Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 5:23 pm Post subject: Female Sperm Male Eggs?
From Scientist 02 Feb 2008:
Quote:
"FEMALE sperm", "male eggs" and "same-sex reproduction" - whether these terms fill you with hope or disgust, a reproductive revolution is already in progress. In a handful of labs across the world, biologists are trying to make genetically male cells develop into eggs, and female cells into sperm. If successful, their efforts might one day allow lesbian and gay couples to have children that are genetically their own.
Now Greg Aharonian, a patent analyst from San Francisco, is trying to patent the technologies that could make this possible. In part, Aharonian's goal is to stimulate debate. He argues that lesbians and gay men have a right to know about developments in biology that could allow same-sex reproduction. Aharonian also wants to undermine the argument that marriage should remain an exclusively heterosexual institution because its main purpose is procreation. "I'm a troublemaker," he admits.
In the US, where reproductive clinics are largely unregulated and religious conservatives are at war with gay rights campaigners over same-sex marriage, it should indeed cause controversy. Same-sex reproduction is also an issue in the UK, where Parliament is debating whether in principle to allow IVF using sperm or eggs grown in the lab - although this would only apply to sperm from male cells, and eggs from female cells
In his application, Aharonian discusses methods including the use of artificial chromosomes and cellular "reprogramming" techniques. Still, biologists want to see hard experimental evidence. "He claims things that could be possible, but it needs experiments," says Karim Nayernia, a stem cell biologist at Newcastle University in the UK.
Nayernia is working on lab techniques to make sperm from human stem cells. In April last year, he made headlines by taking bone marrow stem cells from adult men and making them develop into spermatogonia - cells that can give rise to immature sperm through a process called meiosis. Since then, Nayernia claims to have repeated the feat for female bone marrow, opening the door for the creation of female sperm.
In so far unpublished work, Nayernia also claims to have made lab-grown male spermatogonia enter meiosis by culturing them with Sertoli cells - support cells from the testes that nurture developing sperm. He has not yet succeeded in getting his female cells to do the same but remains optimistic. "I think, in principle, it will be scientifically possible," Nayernia says, although there will be additional challenges along the way
Male eggs might not be so hard to make, though. A Brazilian team led by Irina Kerkis of the Butantan Institute in Saġ Paulo claims to have made both sperm and eggs from cultures of male mouse embryonic stem cells (Cloning and Stem Cells, DOI: 10.1089/clo.2007.0031). The researchers have not yet shown that their male eggs can be fertilised to produce viable offspring, but they are thinking about possibilities for same-sex human reproduction.
"We are starting experiments with human embryonic stem cells," says Kerkis. If these are successful, then the next step will be to see if male eggs could be made from cells known as "induced pluripotent stem cells". These seem to behave just like embryonic stem cells, and can be made from adult skin cells using a genetic reprogramming technique pioneered by Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University in Japan (New Scientist, 24 November 2007, p 7).
If all these experiments pan out, then the stage would be set for a gay man to donate skin cells that could be used to make eggs, which could then be fertilised by his partner's sperm and placed into the uterus of a surrogate mother. "I think it is possible," says Kerkis, "but I don't know how people will look at this ethically."
Safety is another worry, especially given concerns that Yamanaka's reprogramming technique might make cells prone to becoming cancerous. Safety fears are also likely to surround female sperm, especially if they are created with the help of artificial chromosomes, as Aharonian suggests. "This looks like a very extreme kind of biological manipulation," says Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society in Oakland, California.
Even if the safety issues could be resolved, same-sex reproduction would remain politically controversial. Religious conservative groups already oppose gay and lesbian adoption, claiming that children are best raised by a mother and a father. And while such groups have used the link between marriage and procreation to argue that homosexuals should not be allowed to wed, techniques that allow gay and lesbian couples to have their own biological children are unlikely to shift their position.
"To the extent that there might be a right to reproduce, it would apply only to natural reproduction," argues Peter Sprigg, vice-president for policy with the Family Research Council in Washington DC, a leading religious conservative group.
Miriam Yeung, until recently director of public policy and government relations with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in New York, predicts a mixed reaction among homosexuals: some may be concerned about safety, others put off by the likely cost, while others are content to have children using donated eggs or sperm. "But there may be some in the community who really want this," she says.
Debra Mathews, a bioethicist at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, agrees. She is a member of the Hinxton Group, an international consortium on stem cell ethics, which in April is organising a meeting near Cambridge, UK, to discuss issues raised by efforts to grow sperm and eggs in the lab - including the likely demand from homosexual couples. "People want children, and no one wants anyone else to tell them that they can't have them," Mathews observes.
well I wonder what the old Goat will have to say about this
It is great news!
Now, lesbians can have and raise children PROVING men need not hang around after we knock up the women!
Findem
Fuckem
Forgettem !
It's the liberal way!
Make sure to pass that on to your straight boy's Colonel!
They need not be a father to their children!
You tell them your a dinosaur!
An antique who's "need" has passed!
And if they don't believe you....
Introduce them to the son's of those lesbians!
They will be living proof a FATHER is not needed!
If all these experiments pan out, then the stage would be set for a gay man to donate skin cells that could be used to make eggs, which could then be fertilised by his partner's sperm and placed into the uterus of a surrogate mother
It is great news!
Now, lesbians can have and raise children PROVING men need not hang around after we knock up the women!
Findem
Fuckem
Forgettem !
It's the liberal way!
Make sure to pass that on to your straight boy's Colonel!
They need not be a father to their children!
You tell them your a dinosaur!
An antique who's "need" has passed!
And if they don't believe you....
Introduce them to the son's of those lesbians!
They will be living proof a FATHER is not needed!
Yes it is great news.
See, "gay Michael" will be able to have children of his own after all Fred!
That's more grandchildren for me to take over the country with!
That's more grandchildren for me to take over the country with!
hahahahaha !!!! that made me laugh out loud Colonel !!!!!
I just got this image of you and thousands of little grandchildren Colonels all marching about with tin hats and sticks and stuff shouting "rrrrraaagghhhhh GET FRED and jump on him" !!!!!!!
(sorry not making fun of you or your prospective grandchildren, I meant it in a nice way!!)
Hi my name is G&P. Ive been your excitable gay boy this evening. I thank you.
That's more grandchildren for me to take over the country with!
hahahahaha !!!! that made me laugh out loud Colonel !!!!!
I just got this image of you and thousands of little grandchildren Colonels all marching about with tin hats and sticks and stuff shouting "rrrrraaagghhhhh GET FRED and jump on him" !!!!!!!
(sorry not making fun of you or your prospective grandchildren, I meant it in a nice way!!)
Hi my name is G&P. Ive been your excitable gay boy this evening. I thank you.
That was funny! No better army than a private family army!
Also, where did you get your signature from? (the bottom of your post) Did you copy that from somewhere? Because I heard my son say something similar not so long ago
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