By: Aaron Zeng

Human reproduction is complicated for most, but what many don’t know is that it is very difficult for pregnancy to start, and for it to actually go well. For example the process of fertilization would be impossible if not the male body didn’t release millions of sperm during each orgasm. Even after that only a few can even make it to the egg. Beyond this, after the egg is fertilized, many things can still go wrong. About 60% of pregnancies don’t even make it to the implantation in the uterus. To combat this, researchers all over the world have been researching human embryos, which is the fertilized egg that eventually grows into a human.

This research consists of scientists creating models of a human embryo. They coax it into stem cells to manipulate them into doing things like getting into clumps, and taking on the role of crucial hallmarks of real embryos.

Although the research is focused on helping pregnancies succeed, critics think that they are trying to make more unnatural humans, maybe even through things like cloning. For example, MS during a Q&A says: “Opponents argue that the research is unethical, because deriving the stem cells destroys the blastocyst, an unimplanted human embryo at the sixth to eighth day of development.” Scientists have replied to these rumors by saying they are saving, and not creating lives: “We do it to save lives, not create it” says Magdelena Zernicka-Goetz, a developmental biologist.

Embryonic research has been going on for ages, and takes place all over the world, in major superpowers like the US and China. Although there are critics against the idea of human embryo research, many still believe that it is for the greater good and has the power to both help pregnancies succeed and save lives.