British experts are hailing a new breakthrough by a team of Japanese scientists where they successfully created eggs from scratch. This marks the first time that this has been done without the need to employ animals.
The researchers managed to accomplish the feat by taking tissue cells from a mouse's tail, altered it as stem cells and turned the extracted samples into eggs in the lab. The resulting specimens were then implanted in female mice, which went on to deliver 11 healthy pups.
Stem Cell Research Could Bring Back Animals That Are Already Extinct
If applied to humans, this could solve women infertility and can even result in healthier babies. As women are born with all their eggs, they struggle to conceive at a later part in life as the eggs also age.
With this stem cell reprogramming, however, brand new eggs could be made. It's also possible to help women who have fewer eggs than normal or those whose ovaries have stopped producing eggs.
Aside from this, scientists are saying that the research could also revive animals who have fallen to extinction, said the Telegraph. Creating humans in laboratories is also a possibility.
However, the research is still in its infancy and it would take years for all of this to reach human practice. While the experiment has a low success rate - only 11 out of more than 300 two-cell embryo ended up giving birth - the breakthrough is still quite the feat.
Research Faces Ethical Hurdles If Applied On Humans
Scientists noted that the process of mingling stem cells with "gonadal somatic cells" played a significant role in the research's development. The reprogrammed stem cells were altered to become pluripotent ones, a stem cell that can produce any type of cell.
Researchers then developed a chemical soup in the lab designed to mimic the conditions in the ovary encouraging the stem cells to turn into follicles. Through these follicles, the scientists were able to harvest healthy eggs.
One of the major obstacles that experts foresee lies in practical and ethical challenges if used on humans, said the Independent. The possibility of making children without human adults fertilizing or carrying them will undoubtedly raise a lot of objections from various groups across the globe.
