Primate embryoids: an in vitro model leading from a totipotency-like phase to early organogenesis

In a recent seminal study published in Cell , Zheng et al. 1 demonstrated a sophisticated embryoid model for primate embryogenesis to study development up to early organogenesis in vitro. This embryoid model is based on a totipotent-like cynomolgus blastomere-like stem cell (cTBLC) culture, which can be triggered to autonomously undergo pre- and post-implantation developmental features in a sequential manner reminiscent of these stages after fertilization.