Researchers revive abandoned technique in effort to make artificial human eggs in a test tube

In a little-noticed study published earlier this year, scientists from Oregon Health & Science University reported the birth of three mouse pups that had been created with a never-before-used recipe for reproduction. Using a common cloning technique, researchers removed the genetic material from one female’s eggs and replaced them with nuclear DNA from the skin cells of another. Then with a novel chemical cocktail, they nudged the eggs to lose half their new sets of chromosomes and fertilized them with mouse sperm.

In a big step toward achieving in vitro gametogenesis — one of reproductive medicine’s more ambitious moonshots — the group led by pioneering fertility researcher Shoukrat Mitalipov now intends to use the same method to make artificial human embryos in a test tube.

If successful, the research holds enormous potential for treating infertility, preventing heritable diseases, and opening up the possibility for same-sex couples to have genetically related children.

“It’s one of those high-risk, high reward type of projects,” said Paula Amato, an OB-GYN and infertility specialist at OHSU who collects the human eggs used in Mitalipov’s experiments...