Scientists Engineered Artificial Sperm and Egg using Stem Cells

 

Scientists from UK and Israel have created sperm and egg using human stem cells.

As per TIME, Researchers, from human embryonic cells, created primordial germ cells (PGC). PGC was created earlier from rat’s embryonic cell but now it is successfully harnessed from human cells.
Dr Naoko Irie, first author of the paper, said “The creation of primordial germ cells is one of the earliest events during early mammalian development. It’s a stage we’ve managed to recreate using stem cells from mice and rats, but until now few researches have done this systematically using human stem cells. It has highlighted important differences between embryo development in humans and rodents that may mean findings in mice and rats may not be directly extrapolated to humans,”

An important finding from the study was the involvement of the gene SOX 17 which I very critical in the transformation of stem cells to PCG, according to Times of India. Comparatively this gene does not come into play in case of rats therefore the results from rats studies cannot always be hypothesized for Humans.

According to researchers the PCG can also be developed by using adult cells like skin cells which may lead us to the treatment of infertility. Researchers also found the process during the verification of PCG includes removal of environmental factors added to the parent DNA like smoking.

“The comprehensive erasure of epigenetic information ensures that most, if not all, epigenetic mutations are erased, which promotes ‘rejuvenation’ of the lineage and allows it to give rise to endless generations,” professor Surani concluded.


Source: geekinfinite