Meet the World’s First Baby Born With an Assist from Stem Cells
By Alice Park,
Time
| 05. 07. 2015
Doctors in Canada have begun a new chapter in medical history, delivering the first in a wave of babies expected to be born this summer through a technique that some experts think can dramatically improve the success rate of in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Now 22 days old, Zain Rajani was born through a new method that relies on the discovery that women have, in their own ovaries, a possible solution to infertility caused by poor egg quality. Pristine stem cells of healthy, yet-to-be developed eggs that can help make a woman’s older eggs act young again. Unlike other kinds of stem cells, which have the ability to develop into any kind of cell in the body, including cancerous ones, these precursor cells can only form eggs.
In May 2014, Zain’s mother, Natasha Rajani, now 34, had a small sliver of her ovarian tissue removed in a quick laproscopic procedure at First Steps Fertility in Toronto, Canada, where she lives. Scientists from OvaScience, the fertility company that is providing Augment, then identified and removed the egg stem cells and purified them...
Related Articles
By Matthew Herper, Stat | 07.01.2026
Researchers have created what they say may count as the first synthetic cell, and have started a public benefit corporation to share the technology with other scientists. It’s a piece of science that generates as many questions as answers. They...
By Tory Shepherd, The Guardian | 07.17.2026
Over eight years, Ethan and his wife went through nine rounds of IVF in Melbourne.
They travelled to Spain for two more, without success.
“I thought maybe the universe had decided we’re not supposed to have kids,” says Ethan, who...
By Oscar Lopez, The Guardian | 07.19.2026
Diogo Amaro met his future husband, Loup, in Paris and from the first date, he made one thing clear: he wanted to have children.
“Right off the bat, I was like: ‘If I’m going to be in a relationship with...
By Carissa Wong, New Scientist | 07.08.2026
Healthy lambs have been born via an experimental form of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) that coaxes highly immature eggs to become mature ones in the lab. This is the first time the approach has been demonstrated in a large animal...
