Microbiology/Genetics

Male Only Reproduction: Eggs Achieved from Man's Skin

Gay couples could have their own biological kid

By Stefan Anitei, Science Editor

5th of February 2008, 19:06 GMT

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Everybody is now focusing on the British research forecasting male-free reproduction. The team at the University of Newcastle has achieved proto-sperms from human female bone marrow cells.

Many already think of lesbian couples conceiving their own children, possessing DNA 100% coming from both women, not 50% from one of them and 50% coming from one male sperm donor. Sperm cells would be created from one partner and they would fertilize the partner's ovule. Just a meiosis division kept us apart from seeing this.

Alright, we all associate women with the miracle of human life. But what about the reverse of this?

A Brazilian team led by Dr Irina Kerkis of the Butantan Institute in Sa� Paulo seems to have achieved both sperm and eggs from cultures of male mouse embryonic stem cells, as detailed in their study published in the journal Cloning and Stem Cells.
The study has not proved yet that the eggs coming from males can be fertilized to deliver viable offspring, but this could be the first step towards male only reproduction.

In this case, gay couples could have their own natural kids: one partner would donate skin cells for achieving eggs, and these eggs could be fertilized by his partner's sperm and the resulting embryo would be implanted into the womb of a surrogate mother.

"I think it is possible, but I don't know how people will look at this ethically," said Kerkis.

Still, children like these could pose many issues, like severe health problems, as they could bear genetic abnormalities.

But, while all the children achieved through female sperm would be girls, in the case of the male eggs, 50 % of the embryos would be males, one quarter would be girls and another quarter would be incompatible to life, carrying 2 Y sex chromosomes. This is due to the fact that men have one X sex chromosome and one Y sex chromosome, while women two X chromosomes. X chromosomes carry crucial genes for life, thus it cannot miss, while Y chromosome is believed to carry masculinizing genes.

TAGS:

gay | egg | embryo

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