Eggs From Men, Sperm From Women?
There’s a great article over at Scientific American about research by Japanese scientist Katsuhiko Hayashi.
Experimenting on mice, Hayashi discovered a method for converting skin cells into sperm and egg cells. Using these new cells, Hayashi was able to create a living, breathing baby mouse.
The most fascinating part of the research is that Hayashi was able to make sperm and egg cells from both genders of mice, meaning that male skin cells could be made into egg cells, and female skin cells could be made into sperm cells.
While other teams are working on recreating Hayashi’s results, Hayashi is looking at the possibility of doing this work with human cells.
The implications of this research are staggering.
If Hayashi is successful in translating his research to humans, we could have a potential solution for infertility and gay and lesbian couples could have children who share DNA with both parents. Millions of lives could be affected.
I’ve worked with couples suffering from infertility as well as gay and lesbian couples grappling with the realities of child-bearing, and both issues can be heart-breaking.
Even the slightest glimmer of hope can be very powerful for couples in these kinds of situations.
While the possibilities are exciting, Hayashi himself cautions against getting too invested in the research.
The baby mice that he was able to create during his experiments lived healthy lives, but their offspring were not completely normal. One small genetic flaw could have impacts for generations to come.
Hayashi also notes that translating the research from mice to human is incredibly complex. There are a number of ethical questions that need to be addressed before we start creating human life, especially with the possibility of genetic defects on the table.