Paper examines potential — for better or worse — of ‘in vitro gametogenesis’
In Science Translational Medicine, three experts discuss the implications of a lab technology — already far along in mice — that could allow for the creation of fertilized embryos using sperm and eggs derived from non-reproductive body tissues.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Even in such game-changing reproductive advances as in vitro fertilization or mitochondrial replacement therapy, what has remained necessary is that the gametes — the sperm and the egg — come from the father’s testes and the mother’s ovaries, respectively. But a new lab technology rapidly advancing in mouse studies could upend that biological imperative by, at its hypothetical endpoint, creating embryos from sources such as repurposed skin cells. (more…)