The Star Malaysia

China researches breed mice from same-sex parents

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Beijing: Chinese scientists have pushed the boundaries of reproducti­ve science by breeding healthy mice using genetic materials from same-sex parents, without the need for males to fertilise eggs as required for mammalian reproducti­on.

The research can shed light on why mammals can only reproduce sexually, as well as provide a better understand­ing of and possible cure for some forms of infertilit­y and birth defects, scientists said.

Such techniques might also be used to preserve critically endan- gered animals that cannot find a mate.

Some hope this new work could lead to the possibilit­y that homosexual couples would be able to have their own biological children, but such an applicatio­n faces monumental technical and ethical obstacles that would be extremely difficult to overcome, the scientists said.

Using gene editing and stem cells, researcher­s from the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences created 29 healthy mice pups born to pairs of female mice.

The pups lived to adulthood and had babies of their own, according to the study published on Thursday in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

In 2004, scientists in Japan produced the first mice from two mothers using complex genetic manipulati­ons, but the mice that were born exhibited serious birth defects, such as growth retardatio­n and poor motor skills.

The new study said it also marks the first time that pups from pairs of male mice were born.

However, most of them died soon after birth, with just two out of the 12 male pups surviving more than 48 hours.

Scientists are planning to improve the process so that the male mice can live to adulthood.

Zhou Qi, the paper’s co-senior author and the director of the institute, said in a news release on Thursday that the main purpose of the research was to probe why mammals can only undergo sexual reproducti­on.

In the natural world, certain types of reptiles, amphibians and fish can reproduce without two parents of the opposite sex, but this is extremely challengin­g for mammals, even with advanced science, he said.

Same-sex reproducti­on is difficult for mammals due to a mechanism called genomic imprinting, whereby certain genes are turned on or off depending on whether they come from the mother or father, Teresa Holm, a researcher from New Zealand’s University of Auckland, said in the study’s review. — China Daily/Asia News Network

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