Who's your mommy? These adult mice grew from oocytes, or immature eggs, derived in vitro from induced pluripotent stem cells.
Credit: Mitinori Saitou and Katsuhiko Hayashi
Posted on 10/05/2012 11:48:59 AM PDT by neverdem
Want baby mice? Grab a petri dish. After producing normal mouse pups last year using sperm derived from stem cells, a Kyoto University team of researchers has now accomplished the same feat using eggs created the same way. The study may eventually lead to new ways of helping infertile couples conceive.
"This is a significant achievement that I believe will have a sustained and long-lasting impact on the field of reproductive cell biology and genetics," says Amander Clark, a stem cell biologist at University of California, Los Angeles.
The stem cells in both cases are embryonic stem (ES) cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. The former are taken from embryos and the latter are adult tissue cells that are reprogrammed to act like stem cells. In theory, both can produce all of the body's cell types, yet most researchers have been unable to turn them into germ cells, precursors of sperm and eggs.
The Kyoto group, led by stem cell biologist Mitinori Saitou, found a process that works. As with the sperm, the group started with ES and iPS cells and cultured them in a cocktail of proteins to produce primordial germ cell-like cells. To get oocytes, or precursor egg cells, they then mixed the primordial cells with fetal ovarian cells, forming reconstituted ovaries that they then grafted onto natural ovaries in living mice. Four weeks and 4 days later, the primordial germ cell-like cells had developed into oocytes. The team removed the ovaries, harvested the oocytes, fertilized them in vitro, and implanted the resulting embryos into surrogate mothers. About 3 weeks later, normal mouse pups were born, the researchers report online today in Science.
"It is remarkable that one can produce oocytes capable of sustaining complete development starting with embryonic stem cells," says Davor Solter, a developmental biologist at Singapore's Institute of Medical Biology. Clark adds that the immediate impact of the work will be on understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in forming germ cells. Saitou says that with a bit more progress in understanding the complex interactions at work, they may be able to coax the cells through the entire oocyte development process in a lab dish. If successful, "we may be able to skip the grafting," he says.
Further in the future, the technique could lead to a new tool for treating infertility. "This study has provided the critical proof of principle that oocytes can be generated from induced pluripotent stem cells," Clark says. If applied to humans, it could lead to the ability to create oocytes from iPS cells taken from infertile women. But Saitou cautions that moving on to human research will require resolving thorny ethical issues and technical difficulties. Solter says that at the extreme, the new approach could lead to the production of human embryos from cell lines and tissue samples. Still, he notes, "defining the status of such 'parentless' human embryos and the biological, ethical, and legal issues they will raise defies the imagination."
It’s Modern Family meets reality!
What’s the point of this research? Mice do fine making babies the natural way, often in my garage. Then the catz, who also manage to reproduce without Petri dishes, come by to snack, and the natural world progresses as it always has ...
Wait ‘til the Fabulous Fascists get ahold of this. No breeders needed.
IMHO, they'll make this illegal in humans.
Man, just think. That used Slurpee straw could result in your having kids without your own knowledge!
Science fiction meets reality!
Yikes!
Mouse Puppies??
I do not like
Mouse Eggs and Sperm
I do not like them
Herm-I-Squirm....
All we need now is the artifical womb and the industrial processing of the product and it’s “Brave New World” time.
Not surprising this development occurred in Japan, a first world country with a cratering birth rate.
Armies of clones?
All we need now is the artifical womb and the industrial processing of the product and it’s “Brave New World” time.
Not surprising this development occurred in Japan, a first world country with a cratering birth rate.
Japan does need this otherwise they will die out...
Replicants?
This research proves that it would be possible to produce viable human offspring from non-reproductive cells such as skin or muscle cells. Then, couples who are sterile / infertile could have genetically-related children.
Another possibility: human-machine hybrids created from mechanical / electrical parts and human body cells (somatic / non-reproductive) thus bypassing ethical objections and creating artificial humans / humaniods, designed for specific tasks.
I was being sarcastic, and this research doesn't prove anything about humans, only about mice.
I do not like them
Herm-I-Squirm....
Green Eggs and Sperm! - Dr Sploosh!
Dr. Ian Malcolm ( Jeff Goldblum ):
“The complete lack of humility for nature that’s being displayed here is staggering.”
I would not eat them
on a knish
With jello
In a petri dish
I wouid not eat
with watercress
Or lick them off
An old blue dress
I would not eat them
On a dare
at Arbys
Rax
Or anywhere
I do not like
Mouse Eggs and Sperm
So do not mix them
Herm-I-Squirm
I was being facetious earlier, playing on the “brave, new world” theme, but the last time I checked, most biological experimentation models rely heavily on studies and experiments performed on mice. Humans have no genetic barrier significant enough to make it impossible for these mice-based experiments to be extended onto human subjects. In other words, these mice experiments are the stepping stones which will eventually lead to human experimentation, if it has not already done so.
>>IMHO, they’ll make this illegal in humans. <<
Who is “they”? and will it be worldwide? Do you actually believe that every country would enforce it? What about those dictators who yearn for an Olympic Gold metal? Or those who believe they can breed violence out of the human mind?
At least in the USA. I can't tell what some wacked out dictator or lefty would do. This also presumes that there are no flaws in this method.
(David) Solter says that at the extreme, the new approach could lead to the production of human embryos from cell lines and tissue samples. Still, he notes, "defining the status of such 'parentless' human embryos and the biological, ethical, and legal issues they will raise defies the imagination."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.