Scientists say they made mouse sperm in a lab, raise hopes for a cure to male infertility
A group of Chinese researchers published an essay that showed how the baby mice that were born out of their experiment have grown up healthy.
A group of Chinese scientists has published research claiming that they have reared healthy mice from artificial sperm created in their labs. The scientists created the sperm using embryonic stem cells, and fertilised it with a normal mouse egg using a process called meiosis that was monitored with extreme care, The Guardian reported.
The scientists had to create a series of other conditions, including a viable chemical environment of hormones, to ensure that the sperm could grow. The fertilised eggs were transferred into female mice, who give birth to healthy offspring. These grew up to give birth to healthy babies of their own, making the team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences sure that their process had worked.
Although some other researchers remain sceptical of the Chinese team's work, if corroborated, it could herald advancements in the cure of human male infertility. Scientists so far have no been able to recreate human sperms in the lab. The mouse experiment could mean a push to this scientific pursuit, though any concrete human solution is far away, experts said. Moreover, the entire project to create human sperm is fraught with safety, ethical and legal concerns.
