Why Scientists Might Drop the 14-Day Limit on Human Embryo Research

Scientists are currently limited to stopping human embryo growth at 14 days, but now, the International Society for Stem Cell Research wants to rethink that limit. What now? » Subscribe to Seeker! http://bit.ly/subscribeseeker » Watch more Elements! http://bit.ly/ElementsPlaylist » Visit our shop at http://shop.seeker.com The internationally recognized limit for how long a human embryo can be grown in a lab is 14 days. But in light of advancements that may now make it possible to culture embryos beyond 14 days, scientists and ethicists are discussing: should growing human embryos in a lab beyond this limit be allowed? The existing 14-day limit on lab-mediated human embryo development was suggested after the first IVF babies were born in the 1970s. And until recently we didn’t even know HOW to keep human embryos or something similar alive in the lab longer than nine days, so this wasn’t really a pressing question. But 2016 was the year that a couple research teams got all the way to 13 days. And ever since, the scientific community has been grappling with how to deal with these advances in the face of the limit...or if the limit should be changed altogether. #14DayRule #bioethics #science #seeker #elements This is How Your Body Makes New Cells- https://youtu.be/cJZkZNKB7KQ Read More: International Society for Stem Cell Research Updated Guidelines https://www.isscr.org/policy/guidelines-for-stem-cell-research-and-clinical-translation Limit on lab-grown human embryos dropped by stem-cell body https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01423-y "The ISSCR made this change and others to its guidelines for biomedical research in response to rapid advances in the field, including the ability to create embryo-like structures from human stem cells. In addition to relaxing the ‘14-day rule’, for instance, the group advises against editing genes in human embryos until the safety of genome editing is better established." What is IVF? https://www.mayoclinic.org/