Stem cells coaxed to produce both eggs and sperms
(sz) Offering a new ray of hope to infertile couples, researchers have now coaxed stem cells, from a mouse embryo, to produce both eggs and sperm in the same dish.
This method brings researchers closer to their ultimate aim: producing human eggs and sperm from adult body cells so that infertile men and women can have their own children.
Applying the technique to humans would be controversial, not least because it raises the possibility that men might be able to produce eggs, and women sperm. But researchers point out that any human application would be decades away, which would allow time for ethical debate over the technology.
In the meantime, they hope that lab-produced eggs and sperm will help them to learn exactly how these cells are created in the body, something that is crucial to understanding fertility disorders and embryo development.
The achievement builds on previous work using mouse embryonic stem cells to grow eggs and sperm. In 2003, Hans Schöler of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and his colleagues reported that after such cells had been cultured for around 40 days, some of them spontaneously produced eggs. more…
From: »Spirit India«