Scientists have taken the first step towards creating human eggs and sperm in the laboratory using stem cells, making it possible of one day growing sperm and eggs artificially for IVF treatment, therapeutic cloning and medical research.

Although much work needs to be done before human sperm and eggs can be grown in a laboratory, the research could be an “extraordinary breakthrough” for couples, by allowing them to produce a child with a mix of their genetic material even if both are infertile. The treatment of developing eggs and sperm from stem cells, which can be taken from anywhere on the body, would also be less invasive than current methods.

Anna Smajdor, from Imperial College London, said the work opened a potential Pandora’s Box. “The technique can be used to generate eggs from a man’s somatic cells, [so] gay couples could have children genetically related to both,” she said. “Single men could even produce a child using their own sperm and an engineered egg, opening the way to a new form of cloning. Women’s fertility would no longer need to be curtailed at the menopause.

“These possibilities raise new questions about how we define parenthood and about how we decide who has access to these new technologies.”

Via Scotsman and New Scientist.