The paper describes a breakthrough in modeling primate embryonic development by creating stem cell-derived monkey embryoids that successfully reach the late gastrulation stage (equivalent to Carnegie Stage 8-9). Using an optimized 3D suspension culture system, researchers generated these embryoids from naive pluripotent stem cells and maintained them for up to 25 days, observing key developmental milestones like the formation of the neural plate, primitive gut, and hematopoietic system. Through extensive single-cell transcriptomic analysis and morphological studies, the resulting embryoids were found to largely recapitulate the cell lineage composition and spatial organization of natural monkey embryos. Furthermore, the robust system was validated by CRISPR-Cas9-mediated genetic perturbation of key developmental genes, proving its value as a powerful platform for dissecting early primate development and addressing limitations in traditional embryo research.

References:

• Li J, Li J, Cao J, et al. Modelling late gastrulation in stem cell-derived monkey embryo models[J]. Nature, 2025: 1-12.