A Japanese genetics researcher revealed on Wednesday that he had succeeded in creating mouse eggs from cells from two fathers, a revolution that could potentially pave the way, one day, for gay couples wishing to have children.
Katsuhiko Hayashi explained, during a presentation at a large international conference in London, that he and his team managed to generate eggs with male cells.
According to a BBC report, the researcher has developed a process in which he takes skin cells from male mice, to derive stem cells from them. With genetic manipulation techniques, he then managed to keep only the X chromosomes of the cells – the male cells are composed of the XY chromosomes, against XX for the female cells – and to combine them, before finally managing to obtain cells. strains that can turn into an egg.
Mice today, humans tomorrow?
The researcher is now trying to improve his technique to obtain better quality eggs, but also to develop it for use in humans.
“Purely in terms of technology, it will be possible [pour les humains] ten years from now”, Katsuhiko Hayashi suggested, while specifying that a social debate will also have to surround this whole question.
In addition to helping couples formed by two men to conceive a child, the technique could also be used to treat infertility problems, for example with a woman whose eggs are not viable.
Professor George Daly, who teaches at Harvard Medical School, however, issued a caveat.
“Hayachi’s work is fascinating, although not yet published. But doing this with humans is more difficult than with mice. We don’t yet know enough about the unique biology of human gametogenesis (formation of reproductive cells) to replicate Hayashi’s provocative work,” he said, speaking to BBC News.
The researcher’s work must be published in the journal “Nature”.