What are the ethical and moral quandaries of synthetic human embryos?

Bioethicist Dr Kathryn MacKay from Sydney Health Ethics discusses what the creation of synthetic human embryos using stem cells means for science, and what ethical issues it presents. Researchers have created synthetic human embryos using stem cells, according to media reports. Remarkably, these embryos have reportedly been created from embryonic stem cells, meaning they do not require sperm and ova. This development, widely described as a breakthrough that could help scientists learn more about human development and genetic disorders, was revealed this week in Boston at the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. The research, announced by Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz of the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology, has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal. But Zernicka-Goetz told the meeting these human-like embryos had been made by reprogramming human embryonic stem cells. So what does all this mean for science, and what ethical issues does it present? What did the researchers do?.