Researchers use stem cells from mice to form embryo-like structures with intestinal tract, beginnings of a brain, and a beating heart

Researchers have created the world's first "synthetic embryos" in a groundbreaking feat that bypassed the need for sperm, eggs and fertilisation.

Scientists at the Weizmann Institute in Israel found that stem cells from mice could be made to self-assemble into early embryo-like structures with an intestinal tract, the beginnings of a brain, and a beating heart.

Known as synthetic embryos because they are created without fertilised eggs, the living structures are expected, in the near term, to drive deeper understanding of how organs and tissues form during the development of natural embryos.

But researchers believe the work could also reduce animal experimentation and ultimately pave the way for new sources of cells and tissues for human transplantation. For example, skin cells from a leukaemia patient could potentially be transformed into bone marrow stem cells to treat their condition.