Researchers revive abandoned technique in effort to make artificial human eggs in a test tube
By Megan Molteni,
Stat
| 07. 28. 2022
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...
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