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It's uncertain whether egg cells can likewise be created from male human skin cells, but scientists are already attempting to achieve this, so that two men could genetically create a child, for instance. (LifeSiteNews) – Scientists in Japan have successfully bred a mouse with two genetic fathers by turning a male skin cell into an egg cell, raising ethical concerns regarding the technique’s potential use on humans. Katsuhiko Hayashi, a biologist at the University of Osaka, announced last week that his team had helped conceive seven “healthy” mice pups using two genetic “fathers” in each case, marking the “first case...

Clinical trials are tentatively scheduled for 2020 at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center's new Center for Stem Cell and Organoid Medicine, where researchers are making miniature livers and pancreases, called organoids. Associate Director Takanori Takebe, MD, calls organoids a "complex recipe" of proteins, small molecules, amino acids and nutrients that enable him and his staff in the U.S. and Japan to make the organs using pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), or so-called "master cells." Takebe sees two roles for the manmade organs: drug testing and transplantation. "It's pretty much like science fiction, but we are trying to create the miniature version...