Lab-grown human 'embryos' offer new research hope

Earlier this year, several labs around the world released pre-print studies that had not been peer-reviewed, describing their development of early human embryo-like structures. The work will however renew debate on the need for clearer ethical rules on development of lab-grown human embryo models. Both the researchers and scientists not involved in the work emphasised that the models should not be considered human embryos. The research and other recent work shows "that models of human embryos are getting more sophisticated and closer to events that occur during normal development." In Britain, Cambridge University has begun developing the country's first governance framework for stem cell-based human embryo models.