When the Indian poet Tagore wrote, “Let life be beautiful like summer flowers” in his 1913 Nobel-winning collection Stray Birds, he could not have foreseen that he had metaphorically prophesied the very beginning of life.
Every one of us originates from a blastocyst. Within days of fertilization, an egg develops into this structure, composed of the epiblast, primitive endoderm, and trophectoderm. In 2021, scientists achieved a milestone by successfully culturing complete human blastocyst-like structures (blastoids) in vitro, a giant leap in understanding early human embryonic development.
The images captured here depict developing blastoids, illustrating the magnificent blueprint of life’s earliest stages.
The Left Image: Red, green, and blue hues intertwine to form a cluster resembling a blooming “Endless Summer” hydrangea.
The Right Image: A serendipitous capture of a damaged blastoid, which bears a striking resemblance to a beating heart.
This fractured blastoid reveals that scientific romance lies not only in perfect structures but also in the tenacity of vitality. When the red of pluripotency and the green of cell fate determination intertwine upon the blue backdrop of cell nuclei, the blastoid blooms into the tiniest floral cluster in the history of human development.
Just like this fervent and brilliant cluster, we too should cherish and love life!
Sho Goh Lab 