灵长类早期胚胎发育与不孕不育和发育源性疾病密切相关，深入理解其调控机制，对提升国民健康水平有重要意义。由于技术和伦理局限，灵长类早期胚胎发育机制一直是“黑匣子”的状态。研究团队以食蟹猴为模型，率先开发胚胎3D体外培养体系，并结合体内胚胎，首次绘制了胚胎原肠运动至早期器官发生阶段的细胞图谱及分化机制、诠释了全妊娠周期胎盘细胞谱系及功能特征。研究以长文发表在Cell（封面文章），Nature和Dev Cell,受到Nature News专访。这些研究填补了灵长类原肠运动至早期器官发生阶段的多个知识空白，进一步奠定了我国灵长类研究的国际引领地位。

相关科研成果（发表论文、专利、标准等）：

1. Zhai J, Xu Y, Wan H, Yan R, Guo J, Skory R, Yan L, Wu X, Sun F, Chen G, Zhao W, Yu K, Li W*, Guo F*, Plachta N*, Wang H*. Neurulation of the cynomolgus monkey embryo achieved from 3D blastocyst culture. Cell 2023, 186(10), 2078-2091.e18. (cover story)

2. Zhai J, Guo J, Wan H, Qi L, Liu L, Xiao Z, Yan L, Schmitz DA, Xu Y, Yu D, Wu X, Zhao W, Yu K, Jiang X*, Guo F*, Wu J*, Wang H*. Primate gastrulation and early organogenesis at single-cell resolution. Nature 2022, 612(7941), 732-738.

3. Jiang X, Zhai J, Xiao Z, Wu X, Zhang D, Wan H, Xu Y, Qi L, Wang M, Yu D, Liu Y, Wu H, Sun R, Xia S, Yu K, Guo J, Wang H*. Identifying a dynamic transcriptomic landscape of the cynomolgus macaque placenta spanning during pregnancy at single-cell resolution. Developmental Cell 2023, 58(9), 806-821.