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Scientists Create Immature Human Eggs Out of Blood Cells For the First Time
Scientists in Japan have used human blood to successfully create immature human egg cells in a lab for the first time, according to new research published Thursday in Science [DOI: 10.1126/science.aat1674] [DX]. The work is a major breakthrough in stem cell research and may lead the way to babies that can be created in a lab using the body tissues or blood of their relatives.
Mitinori Saitou, a biologist at Kyoto University who contributed to this pioneering research, managed to produce mouse eggs and sperm from stem cells back in 2012 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1226889] [DX] and used them to breed healthy baby mice. It was the first time that eggs were created from embryonic stem cells.
When Saitou and his colleagues first produced artificial mouse egg cells, these were grown to maturity inside a simulated mouse ovary constructed from the tissue of fetal mice. Since this tissue would be next to impossible to obtain from humans, the researchers had to figure out a different way of creating an artificial ovary.
To produce immature human eggs, Saitou and his colleagues used human blood cells to create induced pluripotent stem cells, which are notable for their ability to become any type of cell. These cells were then injected into tiny, artificial ovaries that were grown in the lab using embryonic cells derived from mice.
The eggs produced by Saitou and his colleagues are far too immature to be fertilized, much less grow into a human child. Still, they open the door for babies made from the genetic material of relatives, dead or alive. They could also provide a way for infertile people or same-sex partners to produce a child made from their own DNA.
Also at Smithsonian Magazine and NPR.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @05:05AM (3 children)
Or maybe we could reduce the red tape and lower the costs of adoption so infertile couples and same-sex partners who are willing and able to provide loving homes could do so. The world is overflowing with children in need of homes but the expense and screening process often excludes many excellent would-be adoptive parents.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Tuesday October 09 2018, @08:37AM (1 child)
Oh, I don't know.
It depends so much on the type of love in those homes I prefer to go with the bureaucracy devil. This way at least the kids can be no worse than before (primum non nocere, we'll see if we can do better after).
Sure, the faster one can be sure the love is appropriate the better, but I wouldn't want to rush the thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @09:53AM
Or foster homes.
Especially those British Parliament abused for 30+ years, or the variety of abuse stories you can hear from kids right here in the US.
Adoption is no more of a risk to those children than remaining in a system with plenty of institutionalized abuse and corruption, and at least with adoption there is a chance they end up somewhere better, and if not, there is always CPS to go and investigate, whether for better or for worse.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @12:37PM
Those are not mutually exclusive options. Not every couple wants to raise others' children.