Fig. 2: A diagram illustrating the correspondence between developmental stages in mice and humans and their alignment with current embryonic model periods.

This detailed diagram illustrates the various stages of early embryonic development in mice and humans, including assembled embryo models and induced embryo models. The timeline at the top marks the embryonic development stages in mice from the zygote to the E14 stage, as well as the corresponding stages in human development. The lower half of the image categorizes two main methods of in vitro emulation. In the “Assembled embryo models” section, different cell types, such as ESCs and TSCs, are combined to simulate the structures and functions of early embryos. In the “Induced embryo models” section, cells differentiate and organize into structures without the guidance of extraembryonic cells. As shown, gastruloid models for both mice and humans self-organize from stem cells and can simulate the gastrulation stage of the embryo. The numbers in the diagram refer to the cited scientific references. TE trophectoderm, PrE primitive endoderm, Epi epiblast, ESC embryonic stem cell, TSC trophoblast stem cell, XEN extraembryonic endoderm, EXMC extraembryonic mesoderm cells, EPSC extended pluripotent stem cell, 2C-LC 2-cell-like cells, EpiSC epiblast stem cell, PSC pluripotent stem cell, PS primitive streak, 8C-LC 8-cell-like cells.