The following is a summary of “Functional assessment of donated human embryos for the generation of pluripotent embryonic stem cell lines,” published in the March 2023 issue of  Reproductive Biomedicine Online by Ceschin et al.

Is it possible for blastocysts with genetic abnormalities and poor morphological quality, which have been donated for research purposes, to serve as a dependable source of human embryonic stem cell (HESC) lines? This investigation was sequentially carried out utilizing 23 surplus embryos that were generously contributed for scientific inquiry from February 2020 to April 2021. All the embryos, except one, underwent morphological evaluation and trophectoderm biopsy for preimplantation genetic testing through next-generation sequencing (NGS) before being vitrified. Following the warming process, the embryos were transferred to suitable culture conditions to facilitate the production of human embryonic stem cells (HESCs). 

The pluripotency capacity and spontaneous in-vitro differentiation of the HESCs were evaluated using immunofluorescence and flow cytometry techniques. The human embryonic stem cells underwent cytogenetic evaluation using multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification and microarray comparative genomic hybridization techniques. Of the 23 embryos initially included, 17 were successfully warmed, and 16 exhibited viability. The morphological quality of the embryos was found to be poor after the warming process. Without prior testing, the embryo exhibited the ability to generate a novel human embryonic stem cell (HESC) lineage. 

Upon further examination, it has been determined that this particular lineage exhibits fully operational, normal chromosomal human embryonic stem cells (HESCs) that maintain their ability to differentiate into various cell types, making them a valuable asset for studying human development and therapeutic applications. Blastocysts that were donated and had poor morphological quality, along with genetic abnormalities detected by NGS, did not exhibit the ability to undergo in-vitro expansion to generate pluripotent HESC lines. This discovery offers supplementary reinforcement to genetic counseling regarding the appropriateness of utilizing this embryo category for clinical purposes.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1472648322008318