What: A deep dive from Anna Louie Sussman in the New York Times on the ethical and legal implications of working with human embryos in scientific research. She weaves her own story in and focuses on the 14-day rule that limits how long embryos can be cultivated.

Key Line: “’Having insight into those stages of development opens this sort of — I don’t want to call it a Pandora’s box,’ Dr. Zernicka-Goetz said, pausing to look for the right metaphor in English. ‘You’ve uncovered something that you’ve never looked at, and it’s full of gems.’ As the clock ticked toward Day 14, the Cambridge team had to end its experiments in order to stay compliant with the law. …Any gems that lie beyond the 14-day mark remain out of reach.”

Source: The New York Times