Making Silk Sperm from a Mouse's Ear

MEDICINE Artificial sperm cells from tissue from the ears of sterile mice? That's the result of an experiment with mice born with either an extra X or Y chromosome, which means that they cannot have offspring. The scientists converted skin cells into a special type of stem cells, which can theoretically be converted into any type of body cells. In the process, one third of the cells lost their extra chromosomes. The new cells were subsequently converted into sperm cells, which could be used to breed mice.

If the same thing can be done with humans, the method could be used to cure male infertility.

Sterile male mice can father offspring by using artificial sperm produced by their ears.