Researchers Revive Abandoned Technique in Effort to Make Artificial Human Eggs in a Test Tube

July 28, 2022

(STAT News) – In a little-noticed study published earlier this year, scientists from Oregon Health & Science University reported the birth of three mouse pups that had been created with a never-before-used recipe for reproduction. Using a common cloning technique, researchers removed the genetic material from one female’s eggs and replaced them with nuclear DNA from the skin cells of another. Then with a novel chemical cocktail, they nudged the eggs to lose half their new sets of chromosomes and fertilized them with mouse sperm. In a big step toward achieving in vitro gametogenesis — one of reproductive medicine’s more ambitious moonshots — the group led by pioneering fertility researcher Shoukrat Mitalipov now intends to use the same method to make artificial human embryos in a test tube. (Read More)