Project Objectives

• Acquire hands‑on expertise in ex utero culture of mouse embryos.
• Learn the “sEmbryo” method for generating synthetic embryos from naïve mouse embryonic stem cells.
• Establish and validate a stable ex utero embryo culture system at the Home Lab, at EPFL.
• Integrate the methods into current and future experiments to better understand embryonic brain development and teratogenic effects (i.e. where substances, agents, or maternal health factors interfere with normal fetal development, causing structural or functional birth defects).

3Rs Impact

• Replaces animal use at specific developmental stages through the generation of synthetic embryos from embryonic stem cells.
• Reduces the number of pregnant animals required, because multiple experimental conditions can be tested using embryos from the same animal using the ex utero embryo culture method.
• Refines experimental procedures, as embryos can be manipulated ex utero, which minimizes maternal stress and pain.
• Provides a scalable and efficient alternative to in utero experimentation, while preserving anatomical and histological features.

Background

Understanding mammalian brain development requires experimental systems that faithfully capture embryonic complexity while also allowing precise manipulation. At the Home Lab at EPFL, Dr Camacho’s research focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms that shape brain patterning, using techniques such as single‑cell RNA sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, and in situ lipidomics. However, to address fundamental questions in embryogenesis, we need to overcome the constraints of in utero experimentation, where research is conducted on a developing fetus or embryo while still inside the uterus.

As a result, Dr Camacho will learn an advanced ex utero embryo culture system developed by the Host Lab, at the Weizmann Institute of Science. This method enables sustained culture of mouse embryos from the earlier stages of embryonic development through to advanced organogenesis, as well as the generation of synthetic embryos from embryonic stem cells. The Host Lab is well positioned to provide hands‑on support for this knowledge exchange, as the originator of these techniques, and doing so will allow EPFL to undertake complex, high‑resolution studies of embryonic brain development, which can reproduce the anatomical and histological structures of the embryo, while also harbouringthe complete range of physiological cell types and cell states involved.