My girlfriend always said I was useless, but this is ridiculous: British scientists at the University of Newcastle have coaxed female embryonic stem cells to develop into primitive sperm cells. They'd previously done it with male bone marrow cells, but this new development opens up the door to lesbian couples having children that share genes from both parents.
That same University of Newcastle team is applying for permission to turn female bone marrow into sperm cells, which one lesbian partner could donate to be turned into stem cells, which would then be used to impregnate the other partner. The next step for Prof. Karim Nayernia and team is to encourage the sperm to undergo meiosis to ensure they have enough genetic material to fertilize an egg. Nayernia first flirted with the possibility of deriving sperm from stem cells when he used sperm taken from male embryonic stem cells to fertilize mice to produce seven offspring, six of which survived to adulthood, though they did suffer from side effects.
“I think, in principle, it will be scientifically possible,” Prof Nayernia told New Scientist.
But Prof. Nayernia's methods aren't without technical and ethical detractors.
Continue reading 'Sperm created from female embryo; men now irrelevant' >
