Skip to main content

A Baby From Two Male Will Soon Be Reality

For the first time, scientists have shown that it’s possible for two people of the same sex to create a baby, without the need for outside egg or sperm donation. The most obvious benefits would be for homosexual couples who want to have a child together, but the method could also help couples who have been affected by infertility. 
The team, from Cambridge University in the UK and Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, built on previous work where baby mice were successfully raised from mouse skin cells that had been converted into what’s known as primordial germ cells - the precursors of egg and sperm cells. It was a real struggle to replicate the process using human biological matter, but now they’ve finally managed to create new human primordial germ cells using skin cells from five human donors and stem cell lines from five human embryos.
“We have succeeded in the first and most important step of this process, which is to show we can make these very early human stem cells in a dish,” lead researcher and professor of physiology and reproduction at Cambridge, Azim Surani, told Lois Rogers at The Sunday Times
“We have also discovered that one of the things that happens in these germ cells is that epigenetic mutations, the cell mistakes that occur with age, are wiped out. That means the cell is regenerated and reset, so while the rest of the cells in the body have aged and contain genetic mistakes, these ones don’t. We can’t say no mutations are passed on, but mostly it doesn’t happen.”
A pioneer in the field of non-traditional reproduction technology, Surani was also involved in the birth of the first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, in 1978. 
The key to their research ended up being a gene called SOX17, which didn’t seem to have any effect on the mouse research, so was largely ignored. But the team finally realised that SOX17 was actually crucial to process of ‘reprogramming’ that the human skin cells had to undergo to become primordial germ cells, and they reported their discovery on Christmas day last year
Now, they’re confident that the process, which has been described in the journalCell, could be used to make healthy babies in as little as two years’ time. Although Robin Lovell-Badge, head of stem-cell biology and developmental genetics at the National Institute for Medical Research, who was not involved in the work, thinks it’s too soon to be putting a due date on it. “[The stem cell breakthrough] will be important for understanding the causes of infertility and for the treatment of it,” he told Rogers at The Sunday Times. “It is probably a long way off, but it would be a way for people who have had treatment for conditions such as childhood leukaemia, which has left them infertile, to have children of their own.”
Of course, something like this is bound to get caught up in ethical concerns, as did the research that resulted in the birth of a girl using the DNA of three parents. But Surani’s team point out that reproduction is not the only potential use for this technique. He told Ian Sample at The Guardian that because the cells are wiped clean of the genetic mutations they had accumulated as skin cells, they could be used to better understand the changes our cells undergo as we age. “This could tell us how to erase these epigenetic mutations,” he said. "Epigenetics is used to regulate gene expression, but in age-related diseases, these changes can be aberrant and misregulate genes.”
As Lovell-Badge said, it’s much too early to know if this is the medical breakthrough that will change the way we reproduce, but it sure does feel like the not-so-distant future will offer a whole lot more options to the kinds of people who are struggling to have a baby today. And ethical arguments aside, that's a pretty wonderful thing.
Sources: ScienceAlert http://www.sciencealert.com/two-dad-babies-could-soon-be-a-reality

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

AI in Soap Manufacturing Industry

Machine learning (ML) has numerous potential applications in the soap manufacturing industry, contributing to process optimization, quality control, resource management, and more. Here are some examples: 1. Quality Control : ML algorithms can be trained to analyze images of soap bars to detect defects such as cracks, air bubbles, or inconsistent coloring. By automating the inspection process, manufacturers can ensure that only high-quality products reach the market, reducing waste and enhancing customer satisfaction. 2. Predictive Maintenance : ML models can analyze sensor data from manufacturing equipment to predict when maintenance is needed. By detecting potential issues before they cause equipment failure, manufacturers can minimize downtime and reduce repair costs. 3. Supply Chain Optimization : ML algorithms can analyze historical data on raw material prices, demand forecasts, and production schedules to optimize inventory management and procurement decisions. This helps minimize...

Telescopic Contact Lens For Visually Impaired People

See far distance just by winking your eyes. A team of engineers have designed a telescopic contact lens that can switch between normal and magnefied vision.  The Researchers at  San Jose, California has built a prototype pf lens that could one day help people with visual impairment  to see. The lenses might be particularly useful with age-related macular degeneration, a debilitating condition in which people gradually lose their central vision. It is the leading cause of visual impairment and affect millions worldwide. The contact lens developed by Ford’s team is one millimeter thick. Researchers used aluminum mirrors, fit tightly together, to create a ring-shaped telescope embedded in the contact lens. The center of the lens allows for normal, non-magnified vision.  Its periphery, where the telescope is located, magnifies images 2.8 times. Switching between normal and magnefied vision Without the glasses, the contact lenses superimpose both normal and magn...

Top 3 Fastest Hydrogen Powered Car

When it comes to racing using hydrogen powered car, this top three car will win the show. Hydrogen powered car uses hydrogen gas as a fuel which combust with oxygen to form water. #3. Aston Martin Rapide :  British luxury marque ASTON MARTIN  introduced AM Rapide S in early 2010.  The Rapide is powered by a 5,935 cc V12 engine , producing 470 bhp and torque of 443 lbf·ft (601 N·m). It is Rear-wheel drive  and has a six- speed Touchtronic automatic. The Rapide can reach a top speed of 188.5 mph (303 km/h),  and accelerate 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.3 seconds, or 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 5.0 seconds. #2. BMW H2R : This car built by BMW uses liquid hydrogen as a fuel. The H2R’s 6.0-liter V-12 engine, which draws on BMW 's Valvetronic  and Double-Vanos  technology, is based on the 760i’s gasoline-fueled powerplant. This H2-powered high performer generates 232 horsepower (173 kW), helping it t...