New stem cell research advances are presenting some headlines that are sci-fi worthy. Researchers from Kyusha University in Japan have succeeded in taking the skin stem cells from mice, performing some complicated bio-engineering and creating reproductive cells forming eggs and sperm. As the New York Times reported this can make for some wild speculations about what the future of human reproduction may hold. Babies made from the skin cells of four different people, for instance, meaning co-parenting times four. Or there’s the stranger possibility of obtaining skin cells from celebrities and having a child related to Brad Pitt, as the NYT’s article proposes.
The technical name for this new process is in vitro gametogenesis, or I.V.G., and while it raises obvious ethical concerns, it does offer a window onto just how far scientific advances in reproductive research and medicine have advanced. While the article, which you can read below, focuses mostly on the moral and ethical conundrums we as a human race may face, at Hanabusa IVF, we like to view these new scientific developments as a sign of hope for those struggling to overcome such infertility issues as Diminished Ovarian Reserve (DOR) or Premature Ovarian Failure (POF). Surely, if scientists have the ability to create egg and sperm from skin stem cells, we can combat and find solutions for those dealing with infertility. We might look no further than our own work resolving some complicated infertility stories as way to also reflect on, and think about, advances in IVF over that last thirty years.
You can read the full NYTs article about making babies from skin stem cells here:
Babies From Skin Cells? Prospect Is Unsettling to Some Expert