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takyon writes:

Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute have performed the UK's first human embryo editing experiment:

The blueprint for life - DNA - has been altered in human embryos for the first time in the UK. The team at the Francis Crick Institute are unravelling the mysteries of the earliest moments of life. Understanding what happens after a sperm fertilises an egg could lead to ways of improving IVF or explain why some women miscarry. The embryos were modified shortly after fertilisation and allowed to develop for seven days.

[...] The researchers used 41 embryos that had been donated by couples who no longer needed them for IVF. After performing the genetic modification, the team could watch how the embryos developed without OCT4.

Over the course of the first seven days, a healthy, normal embryo goes from one cell to about 200. It also goes through the first steps of organising itself and handing out specialised jobs to different cells. The embryo forms a hollow sphere called a blastocyst, with some cells destined to go on to form the placenta, some the yolk sac and others, ultimately, us. But without OCT4 the blastocyst cannot form. It tries - but implodes in on itself. From the embryo's perspective it is a disaster but for scientists it has given unprecedented insight.

Oct-4.

Also at CNN, Science Magazine, and The Guardian.

Genome editing reveals a role for OCT4 in human embryogenesis (open, DOI: 10.1038/nature24033) (DX)

Original Submission