Authors:
Paul H Lerou, Akiko Yabuuchi, Hongguang Huo, Ayumu Takeuchi, Jessica Shea, Tina Cimini, Tan A Ince, Elizabeth Ginsburg, Catherine Racowsky & George Q Daley
Summary:
During in vitro fertilization, embryos deemed clinically useless based on poor morphology are typically discarded. Here we demonstrate a statistical correlation between the developmental stage of such poor-quality embryos and the yield of human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines. Early-arrested or highly fragmented embryos only rarely yield cell lines, whereas those that have achieved blastocyst stage are a robust source of normal hES cells.
Source:
Nature Biotechnology 26, 212 – 214, 2008