Fertility breakthrough as scientists create eggs from human SKIN cells

"'The ability to generate new eggs would be a major advance. 'This study shows that the genetic material from skin cells can be used to generate an egg-like cell with the right number of chromosomes to be fertilised and develop into an early embryo. 'There will be very important safety concerns but this study is a step towards helping many women have their own genetic children.'"

"This process involves transplanting the nucleus from one of a patient's own somatic cells (such as skin cells) into a donor egg cell with the nucleus removed, enabling the cell to differentiate into a functional egg. However, while standard eggs have half the usual number of chromosomes (one set of 23), cells generated from skin cells have two sets of chromosomes (46)."

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University created fertilizable eggs from human skin cells for the first time. The technique could provide new options for women who have lost eggs for reasons such as cancer treatment. In vitro fertilization can be ineffective when the egg itself is defective, so new egg generation could address that limitation. Somatic cell transfer involves transplanting a nucleus from a patient's somatic cell into a donor egg cell with its nucleus removed. Standard eggs are haploid (23 chromosomes) while somatic cells are diploid (46 chromosomes), so chromosomal reduction or correction is required. Significant safety and efficacy testing is needed before clinical trials.

Read at Mail Online