Scientists Create Artificial Sperm Cells

Tissue from infertile men is converted into usable sperm cells in the lab.

Poor sperm quality in men is often the reason why couples cannot have babies. French scientists have developed a new way of creating artificial sperm cells outside the human body by means of a tissue sample from the infertile male patient. The tissue sample contains spermatogonial stem cells - immature sperm cells - which scientists claim they are able to convert into fully mature sperm cells in a culture dish. In 2017, the method will be tested for the first time on people, and if it lives up to the expectations, could mean a new type of treatment against infertility.

It could also help boys who have been in chemotherapy to be able to father babies at a later point in life. Chemotherapy may harm boys’ spermatogonial stem cells, and so, a sample could be taken from a boy’s testicles and frozen before cancer treatment.