Mouse created with sperm made in a lab
sCIENtIsts have created sperm in the lab in a breakthrough that could revolutionise fertility treatment.
the landmark study brings hope to thousands of infertile men, including survivors of childhood cancer, who are desperate to become fathers.
sperm ‘grown’ from slivers of their skin could one day let them have children that are genetically their own.
But this also raises ethical concerns, including the possibility of a dystopian future in which men are no longer needed to create life.
For instance, it may be possible to make vast banks of artificial sperm or create ‘female’ sperm from a woman’s skin. A quirk of genetics means any baby born from female sperm would be a girl.
Around one in seven couples in the uK has trouble conceiving, and although infertility is traditionally considered a female issue, the problem is as likely to lie with the man as the woman. IVF helps some couples conceive, but not all.
the creation of sperm in the body is so complex and lengthy that it had been thought impossible to recreate in a dish. scientists have had some success in recent years, but the latest research, from China, is the most promising yet.
the Nanjing Medical university team not only succeeded in making mouse sperm, but they also used it to fertilise eggs – leading to the birth of pups. Importantly, these pups were healthy and went on to have young of their own, the journal Cell stem Cell reported.
the scientists began by taking embry- onic stem cells – blank cells which can turn into other cell types to create a ‘repair kit’ for the body.
they then used a cocktail of chemicals, hormones and testicular cells to turn them into ‘spermatids’. these are round, early- stage sperm cells which lack tails but can still fertilise eggs. the researchers plan to start trying to create human sperm soon, saying this could be used in IVF within a decade.
the stem cells used in their study came from embryos – but using a sliver of a man’s skin as starting material for the new sperm would allow him to have children that are genetically his own.
Experts welcomed the research, but warned that it was at a very early stage. Professor Allan Pacey of sheffield university said being able to make artificial human sperm ‘would be remarkable’.