In Japan, created an egg from the cells of male mice

News » Science and Technology

A Japanese researcher said at an international genetics conference that he had created eggs from male mouse cells, BBC reported. is at an early stage. The development, which Professor Katsuhiko Hayashi from Osaka University has submitted for publication in the scientific journal Nature, improves the chances of male couples to have children of their own.

br />
Harvard Medical School professor George Daly, who is not involved in the study, said there is still a long way to go before the public has a real opportunity to benefit from the results of the study.

“Hayashi's work has not yet been published, but is fascinating. It will be more difficult to do this on humans than on mice, ", — he said. — We still don't understand enough of the unique biology of human gametogenesis (the formation of reproductive cells) to replicate Hayashi's provocative work with mice in humans.”

The details were presented at the Human Gene Editing Summit at the Crick Institute in London.

Professor Hayashi, an internationally recognized expert in the field, told the meeting participants that the work was at a very early stage. Eggs, he said , were of poor quality and at this stage this method cannot be safely used on humans.

But he told BBC News he envisions how the current challenges will be overcome in ten years, and he would like the method to be available as a fertility treatment for both men and women, and for same-sex couples if proven. that it is safe to use.

This method involves first taking a skin cell from a male mouse and then converting it into a — a cell that can transform into other types of cells.

Cells are male and therefore have XY chromosomes. Professor Katsuhiko's team then removes the Y chromosome, duplicates the X chromosome, and then glues the two Xs together. This setup allows the stem cell to be programmed to become an egg.

This method can be used to help infertile couples whose women are unable to produce their own eggs.

Professor Amander Clarke, a stem cell specialist at UCLA, said the LBGTQ+ community should have a voice in the use of technology for reproduction.

“The LGBTQ+ community has unique needs when it comes to starting a family. In the future, same-sex reproduction is possible based on ongoing research using laboratory models to develop technology. However, today this technology is not available for human use, safety and efficacy have not been proven, and it is not clear how long it will take for the technology to reach the clinic. There is still much to be learned about the human germline, and fundamental knowledge gaps stand in the way of applying this method to humans.”

Follow us on Telegram