This document summarizes a study examining self-organizing optic cup morphogenesis using mouse embryonic stem cells in 3D culture. The key findings are: 1) Mouse embryonic stem cells cultured in 3D spontaneously formed optic vesicles that evaginated and invaginated to form optic cups, mimicking in vivo eye development. 2) The optic cups contained differentiated retinal pigment epithelium and neural retina domains with appropriate gene expression and morphology. 3) Neural retina tissue excised from the optic cups subsequently self-stratified into layers resembling the organized neural retina in vivo. 4) The results demonstrate that optic cup morphogenesis, patterning, and organization can occur autonomously without external cues