This Mouse Has Two Biological Dads?!
In a lab in Japan, scientists transformed cells from the tails of male mice into eggs. They fertilized the eggs with ordinary mouse sperm and implanted them in surrogate mouse moms. The experiment was repeated 630 times. Although most of the pregnancies failed, seven healthy mice were born.
Each of those seven baby mice had two biological dads.
The experiment has staggering implications for the future of human reproduction. Biologist Katsuhiko Hayashi, who led the project, predicts that within a decade, a human skin cell could be used to create a viable human egg. The biotech companies Conception Bio and Gameto are already working on this technology.
This would allow same-sex couples to have natural offspring. Perhaps even solo reproduction will be possible, with one man generating both the sperm and the egg.
Some conservatives are alarmed. "The global fertility industry seeks to erase women from procreation one manufactured egg at a time," Jordan Boyd wrote at The Federalist.
Actually, this technology would be empowering for women who want to have children but can't produce viable eggs—or for older women who have already gone through menopause.
Younger women would also benefit. If a piece of skin can be turned into a viable egg, women doing IVF will be saved from daily hormone injections and from needles in their vaginas, both of which are part of the standard retrieval process today.
Ben Hurlbut, a bioethicist at Arizona State University, told USA Today that this technology is "a perversion of the sanctity of procreation as a fundamental aspect of human life."
It's not a perversion of anything. Procreation is a fundamental aspect of human life—and with this technology, more people would be able to take part. Just ask the 9 percent of men and 11 percent of women of reproductive age in the United States who have experienced fertility problems.
Marcy Darnovsky, head of the left-wing Center for Genetics and Society, warned on NPR that this technology could have dystopian consequences, noting that "this could take us into kind of a Gattaca world."
Darnovsky was referencing the 1997 sci-fi movie in which a eugenicist state is ruled by people born with genetically enhanced abilities.
It's true that this technology could allow parents to test their embryos before implantation and select the traits of their future offspring. But IVF already makes this possible. Today, parents routinely test embryos for heritable conditions and for gender. In the future, they may be able to select for more qualities. And there's nothing wrong with that.
As Stanford University bioethicist Hank Greely correctly observes, we should rely on "parental choices to make decisions about how people wish to create families."
This follows from the reasonable presumption that parents generally seek to provide the best lives for their kids. The sorry history of eugenics in the U.S., where tens of thousands were forcibly sterilized during the 20th century, should make anyone cautious about government meddling in people's reproductive choices.
The ability to turn mouse tails into mouse babies could become the latest technology to give humans more freedom to have the lives they choose with the families of their dreams.
This video is based on the essay "What if Men Could Produce Their Own Eggs?," from our February 2024 issue.
Photo credits: K. Hardy (CC BY 4.0), National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases NIH (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0), Atdoan0 (CC BY-SA 4.0), Internet Archive Book Images (CC0 1.0), Bada Bing (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0), Peter Hermes Furian, Zurijeta, 7active Studio, Srckomkrit
Music credits: "Movements," by Skygaze. Licensed by Artlist.
Graphics Producer: Lex Villena
Narration: Katherine Mangu-Ward
The post This Mouse Has Two Biological Dads?! appeared first on Reason.com.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
The Gattaca Future Is Here
Advances in the world of embryonic screening: The company Nucleus Genomics announced the launch of Nucleus Embryo yesterday, which they bill as "the first genetic optimization software that lets parents pursuing IVF [in vitro fertilization] see and understand the complete genetic profile of each of their embryos." It's a dashboard, essentially, that lets parents see the full analysis of their frozen embryos—each embryo's probability of having some 900 diseases, as well as information about their appearance (male pattern baldness, eye color, hair color), IQ, and more. You can now compare each embryo to the others, and rank order your preferences for which ones you implant, if you so choose. You can know which embryos are more likely to have seasonal allergies, asthma, restless leg syndrome, schizophrenia, cystic fibrosis, alcoholism, celiac disease, and more. "Some people don't think you should have access to the choice Nucleus Embryo empowers you to make," writes Nucleus CEO Kian Sadeghi. "Here's the thing. It's not their choice to make. It's yours." (For the price of $6,000, of course.) Competitors like Orchid offer essentially the same thing. What's discussed a bit less in all the marketing copy is that you're not genetically tweaking the embryos, you're just discarding the ones that don't meet your specifications. And, look, I don't mean to let my Catholic show too much, but I have a hard time getting excited about a Gattaca future—as do many others who've been following the developments in the world of embryonic screening: Other folks within Silicon Valley are bullish on this, and interested in investing in gene-editing technology, applying it to embryos specifically. So expect this to be something we hear a lot more about in the future: Some people surely believe this is a means to reduce suffering, and that it is better to eliminate embryos that would be possibly destined for great suffering than to allow them to continue to grow and develop into children, and then adults, who would incur extreme hardship (like a life with cystic fibrosis or Tay-Sachs disease). To me, this argument is less compelling, because I don't believe it is the parent's role to pick and choose which children are "desirable" and to discard those with traits that might lead to suffering. I also fear the use of this technology as a means of indulging parental hubris, a belief that you are responsible not just for your child's care and safekeeping and spiritual growth—no matter what is thrown their way—but that you may also craft them into perfect beings who become as attractive as can be, as smart as can be. To some degree, parents do this once the children are outside the womb—they provide them with the best opportunities to grow and learn and foster their natural talents—but I do wonder how it might psychologically alter a child to know that they were selected for life due to their potential for excellence vs. their innate value. But, honestly, my own personal beliefs on this are beside the point. Many libertarians probably disagree with me, and see this technology as a massive expansion of human choice applied to the most important realm. This future is here; public support for IVF is already extremely high, and genetic screening is already routine in pregnancy. It's not crazy to theorize that, as the price tag continues to drop as the marketplace becomes more crowded, this type of screening will catch on for those who use IVF, and that some people—perhaps the most type-A parents with the most disposable income—will even be spurred to choose IVF creation of babies vs. the good old-fashioned method, as it gives them greater control over outcomes (but, if we're being honest, less fun). In other words, we're a far cry from parents trying to optimize their kids' intellect by letting them watch Baby Mozart; techniques for optimization are much more sophisticated now, and a whole bunch of ethical quandaries will come along with that. Expect progressives to object to a society increasingly bifurcated based on ability, corresponding to the disposable income of one's parents, and expect conservatives to object on pro-life grounds. Though, interestingly, maybe the MAGA types—who voted for "the fertilization president" (an image I still hope to get out of my head)—and the Silicon Valley types who are broadly supportive of this technology will sort of join forces with IVF-approving normies and it will all become broadly accepted. It's hard to say how it all plays politically. Another Trump travel ban: On Wednesday, President Donald Trump banned citizens of 12 countries—Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen—from entering the United States. He also announced restrictions on travel for citizens of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela, but stopped short of a full ban. People from those countries will not be allowed to come to the United States permanently or get tourist or student visas, but will be allowed to enter under certain circumstances. This is more extensive than the so-called Muslim travel ban of his first term, and it's not totally clear what the specific reasoning is for barring citizens of these countries from visiting or living in the United States. The attack on Jews in Boulder, Colorado, by an Egyptian man who had overstayed his visa and was thus here illegally, "underscored the extreme dangers" posed by the entry of foreigners, said Trump. Oddly, though, he didn't announce any restrictions on travel by Egyptians. I don't believe this statistic is correct, and I am also very curious about where all our taxpayer dollars are going if they're not going to food assistance for poor kids. Articles like this one claim that "an estimated 1 in 4 children don't have enough to eat—a 46% increase over pre-pandemic numbers" and cite the nonprofit Feeding America. When I follow the link, there's nothing to substantiate this number, and this X user is roughly correct that a huge chunk—some estimates say more like 43 percent—of NYC elementary schoolers are overweight. "Many today insist that it is critical—even morally required—that we use the word 'genocide' to describe Israel's war in Gaza. No other term will do. Those not joining the chorus are allegedly complicit in genocide. Those questioning the nature of the accusation are labeled genocide deniers," write Norman J.W. Goda and Jeffrey Herf for The Washington Post. "Why this insistence? Efforts to delegitimize Israel as colonial and racist began before the state was declared in 1948. Genocide, meanwhile, is the crime of crimes; a state committing genocide is forever illegitimate. Given this history and gravity, we should pose some questions. Israel's war against Hamas in the urban environments of Gaza has led to thousands of civilian casualties. But is genocide really the correct way to describe the war?" "Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, citizens of the People's Republic of China, were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the United States, false statements, and visa fraud, announced United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr.," per a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan. "The FBI arrested Jian in connection with allegations related to Jian's and Liu's smuggling into America a fungus called Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a potential agroterrorism weapon. This noxious fungus causes 'head blight,' a disease of wheat, barley, maize, and rice, and is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year. Fusarium graminearum's toxins cause vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in humans and livestock." But it sounds like the scientists mostly failed to file the proper paperwork; will be interesting to see what more comes out about this case. Classic Trump administration: Hell yeah, New Jersey! With age, I conquer my animus and grow in respect for that scrappy little state: The post The Gattaca Future Is Here appeared first on
Business Wire
24-04-2025
- Business Wire
Gameto Announces First U.S. Clinical Site Open for Enrollment in Fertilo Study
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Gameto, a clinical-stage biotech company developing iPSC-based therapies to transform fertility care, today announced that the Reproductive Fertility Center in Corona, CA, led by , is now open for patient enrollment in Gameto's first clinical study of Fertilo in the United States. Fertilo is an investigational platform designed to reduce the burden of ovarian stimulation for women undergoing fertility treatment. By using engineered ovarian support cells to promote egg maturation outside of the body, Fertilo aims to shorten or eliminate the need for weeks of hormone injections typically required in conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles. The trial at Reproductive Fertility Center represents a significant milestone as Gameto expands Fertilo's clinical development across leading fertility centers in the U.S. In addition to this center in California, Gameto expects to open over a dozen additional clinical sites in the coming weeks as part of its U.S. Fertilo study rollout. New sites are anticipated across key states including Florida, Texas, New York, and Connecticut, with more locations to follow. 'Opening our first U.S. clinical site for our pivotal study, is an exciting step forward for Gameto and for the future of fertility care,' said Dr. Dina Radenkovic, CEO & Co-Founder, Gameto. 'We are proud to partner with Dr. Williams and his outstanding team at Reproductive Fertility Center to offer women a new investigational option aimed at making fertility treatment faster, easier, and less invasive.' The Fertilo study will evaluate the ability of engineered ovarian support cells to mature patient eggs ex vivo, with the goal of achieving fertilization and embryo development after a much shorter period of ovarian stimulation. Patients participating in the study will receive personalized monitoring and care at Reproductive Fertility Center, one of Southern California's leading fertility clinics. 'We are excited to be the first clinical site in the U.S. enrolling patients in this innovative study,' said Dr. Daniel Williams, Medical Director of Reproductive Fertility Center. 'Our mission has always been to provide patients with access to the latest advances in reproductive medicine. Fertilo has the potential to offer a safer, simpler alternative for women who want to preserve their fertility or start a family. And with the expertise of our clinical team, including Dr. James P. Lin and Dr. Susan Nasab, we are proud to contribute to advancing this important research.' Gameto recently published a preprint on medRxiv demonstrating that Fertilo can effectively promote egg maturation, leading to a higher number of viable embryos and significantly improved pregnancy success rates. In mini-stimulation (mini-stim) cycles supplemented with Fertilo, patients achieved a 44% pregnancy rate per cycle after the first embryo transfer, more than double the success rate typically observed with conventional in vitro maturation (IVM), which stands at 20%. Patients treated with Fertilo also had more viable embryos available for transfer, further enhancing their chances of conception. The company plans to open additional clinical sites in its pivotal U.S. Phase 3 clinical trial (NCT06858111) of Fertilo, a first-in-class iPSC-derived therapy. Individuals interested in joining the study can learn more at About Fertilo Fertilo is Gameto's ovarian support cell (OSC) product that matures eggs outside the body using iPSC-derived cells. By mimicking the natural ovarian environment in vitro, Fertilo enables replacement of ~80% of hormone injections and shortens IVF or egg freezing cycles from 10-14 days to just 2-3 days. This approach offers a potentially safer, less invasive alternative to traditional IVF, significantly reducing patient burden and the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation. About Gameto Gameto is a biotechnology company developing novel solutions for women's health, starting with infertility. Gameto brings together an experienced scientific management team with the vision and passion to develop a product suite to support women throughout their reproductive journeys. Gameto's lead program, Fertilo, aims to make IVF and egg freezing shorter, safer, and more accessible through reduced hormonal injections by maturing eggs outside of the body. Gameto is led by physician-turned-entrepreneur Dina Radenkovic as CEO and serial entrepreneur and founder of one of North America's largest fertility networks Prelude Fertility, Martin Varsavsky, as Chairman. For more information, go to or follow us on Twitter and Instagram @gametogen and on LinkedIn.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Yahoo
Gameto Announces First U.S. Clinical Site Open for Enrollment in Fertilo Study
- Reproductive Fertility Center in Corona, CA to offer novel investigational platform for fertility treatment AUSTIN, Texas, April 24, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gameto, a clinical-stage biotech company developing iPSC-based therapies to transform fertility care, today announced that the Reproductive Fertility Center in Corona, CA, led by Dr. Daniel Williams, is now open for patient enrollment in Gameto's first clinical study of Fertilo in the United States. Fertilo is an investigational platform designed to reduce the burden of ovarian stimulation for women undergoing fertility treatment. By using engineered ovarian support cells to promote egg maturation outside of the body, Fertilo aims to shorten or eliminate the need for weeks of hormone injections typically required in conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles. The trial at Reproductive Fertility Center represents a significant milestone as Gameto expands Fertilo's clinical development across leading fertility centers in the U.S. In addition to this center in California, Gameto expects to open over a dozen additional clinical sites in the coming weeks as part of its U.S. Fertilo study rollout. New sites are anticipated across key states including Florida, Texas, New York, and Connecticut, with more locations to follow. "Opening our first U.S. clinical site for our pivotal study, is an exciting step forward for Gameto and for the future of fertility care," said Dr. Dina Radenkovic, CEO & Co-Founder, Gameto. "We are proud to partner with Dr. Williams and his outstanding team at Reproductive Fertility Center to offer women a new investigational option aimed at making fertility treatment faster, easier, and less invasive." The Fertilo study will evaluate the ability of engineered ovarian support cells to mature patient eggs ex vivo, with the goal of achieving fertilization and embryo development after a much shorter period of ovarian stimulation. Patients participating in the study will receive personalized monitoring and care at Reproductive Fertility Center, one of Southern California's leading fertility clinics. "We are excited to be the first clinical site in the U.S. enrolling patients in this innovative study," said Dr. Daniel Williams, Medical Director of Reproductive Fertility Center. "Our mission has always been to provide patients with access to the latest advances in reproductive medicine. Fertilo has the potential to offer a safer, simpler alternative for women who want to preserve their fertility or start a family. And with the expertise of our clinical team, including Dr. James P. Lin and Dr. Susan Nasab, we are proud to contribute to advancing this important research." Gameto recently published a preprint on medRxiv demonstrating that Fertilo can effectively promote egg maturation, leading to a higher number of viable embryos and significantly improved pregnancy success rates. In mini-stimulation (mini-stim) cycles supplemented with Fertilo, patients achieved a 44% pregnancy rate per cycle after the first embryo transfer, more than double the success rate typically observed with conventional in vitro maturation (IVM), which stands at 20%. Patients treated with Fertilo also had more viable embryos available for transfer, further enhancing their chances of conception. The company plans to open additional clinical sites in its pivotal U.S. Phase 3 clinical trial (NCT06858111) of Fertilo, a first-in-class iPSC-derived therapy. Individuals interested in joining the study can learn more at About FertiloFertilo is Gameto's ovarian support cell (OSC) product that matures eggs outside the body using iPSC-derived cells. By mimicking the natural ovarian environment in vitro, Fertilo enables replacement of ~80% of hormone injections and shortens IVF or egg freezing cycles from 10-14 days to just 2-3 days. This approach offers a potentially safer, less invasive alternative to traditional IVF, significantly reducing patient burden and the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation. About GametoGameto is a biotechnology company developing novel solutions for women's health, starting with infertility. Gameto brings together an experienced scientific management team with the vision and passion to develop a product suite to support women throughout their reproductive journeys. Gameto's lead program, Fertilo, aims to make IVF and egg freezing shorter, safer, and more accessible through reduced hormonal injections by maturing eggs outside of the body. Gameto is led by physician-turned-entrepreneur Dina Radenkovic as CEO and serial entrepreneur and founder of one of North America's largest fertility networks Prelude Fertility, Martin Varsavsky, as Chairman. For more information, go to or follow us on Twitter and Instagram @gametogen and on LinkedIn. View source version on Contacts InvestorKylie Jordankylie@ MediaKimberly HaKKH 917-291-5744 Sign in to access your portfolio
