Designer Sperm Passes Selected Genes to Future Generations
By GEN,
Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News
| 12. 03. 2013
Frustrated by slow progress in gene therapy, a team of scientists opted for an unconventional approach. Instead of relying on the oocyte as a substrate for genetic modification, they took a closer look at male germ cells, including mature sperm. Sperm, owing to their accessibility, seemed to offer a convenient route to transgenesis.
The scientists, based at the Royal Veterinary College in North Mimms, United Kingdom, used a viral vector to insert genetic material into mouse spermatozoa. Then the spermatozoa were used in an in vitro fertilization procedure. In the resulting embryos, the genetic material was found to be present and active—and inheritable. The genetic material that had been introduced to the spermatozoa was, the scientists confirmed, still functional after passing through at least three generations of mice.
The scientists presented their results December 2 in The FASEB Journal, in an article entitled “Efficient generation of transgenic mice by lentivirus-mediated modification of spermatozoa.” In this article, the authors wrote, “When pseudotyped lentiviral vectors encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) were incubated with mouse spermatozoa, these sperm were highly successful in producing... see more
Related Articles
By Dayton Martindale , Vox | 04.26.2023
On January 6, 2000, the bucardo (also known as the Pyrenean ibex, a subspecies of wild mountain goat) was confirmed extinct — for the first time, at least. Conservationists mourned when Celia, as the final bucardo was known, was found...
By Françoise Baylis, The Conversation | 04.12.2023
In January 2017, I met Jiankui He, the now-infamous Chinese scientist who would go on to create the world’s first genome-edited babies. This was at a meeting in Berkeley, Calif., hosted by Jennifer Doudna who, along with Emmanuelle Charpentier...
By Jessica Hamzelou, MIT Technology Review | 04.06.2023
Embryos made from stem cells—instead of a sperm and egg—have been created from monkey cells for the first time. When researchers put these “synthetic embryos” into the uteruses of adult monkeys, some showed the initial signs of pregnancy. It’s the...
By James Ashworth, Natural History Museum | 02.15.2023
Photo by McGill Library on Unsplash
The dodo has joined an exclusive club, becoming one of the species suggested for de-extinction.
While some argue de-extinction could help to restore damaged ecosystems, others believe it is an expensive distraction from the...