img.source http://www.google.com/
American scientists have created male and female mice from two fathers, using stem cell technology. The scientists say the achievement could help same-sex couples to have their own genetic children one day.
It also could help improving livestock breeds, preserving endangered species and advancing human assisted reproductive technology.
The study, led by Dr. Richard R. Behringer at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, was posted at the online site of the journal Biology of Reproduction.
The team of scientists in Texas manipulated fibroblasts from a male mouse fetus to produce an induced pluripotent stem cell line. The team says that about 1% of these iPS cells spontaneously lost their Y chromosomes, resulting in XO cells.
The XO stem cells were injected into blastocysts from donor female mice. The treated blastocysts were transplanted into surrogate mothers that gave birth to female XO/XX chimeras having one X chromosome from the original male mouse fibroblast.
“Our study exploits iPS cell technologies to combine the alleles from two males to generate male and female progeny, i.e. a new form of mammalian reproduction,” according to the authors.
The scientists point out point out that it’s possible ”one male could produce both oocytes and sperm for self-fertilization to generate male and female progeny.”
Source:
www.sciencedaily.com
