Scientists create mice with two biological fathers

Scientists in Japan have successfully created mice with two biological fathers, after taking male cells from two male mice and generating eggs from them.

The Guardian reports a team led by Katsuhiko Hayashi in Japan's Kyushu University took skin cells that had the male XY chromosome combination and reprogrammed it into a stem cell-like state so that it could be turned into induced pluripotent (iPS) stem cells. The researchers then removed the Y chromosome and then replaced it with another X chromosome taken from another cell so that they could come up with iPS cells with two identical X chromosomes.

The cells were then cultivated in a culture system replicating the conditions inside a mouse ovary called an ovary organoid. The cells were then fertilized with normal sperm, resulting in about 600 embryos, which were then implanted in surrogate mice. It then resulted in the birth of seven mouse pups.

Hayashi, who is recognized as a pioneer in the field of lab-grown eggs and sperm, presented the results at the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing at the Francis Crick Institute in London. He also predicted that he and his team would be able to duplicate the process in humans within the decade.

Should the process be successfully done on humans, it could be used to treat severe forms of infertility such as Turner's syndrome, where one of the X chromosomes is missing or partially missing. Pushed even further, it could also give same-sex couples the possibility of having their own biological children.

However, while other scientists have described the study as “fascinating,” they also cautioned about the timeline that Hayashi provided. According to Harvard Medical School dean Prof. George Daley, “We still don't understand enough of the unique biology of human gametogenesis to reproduce Hayashi's provocative work in mice.”

MEANWHILE, TAKE A LOOK AT THESE CELEBRITY MOMS WHO HAVE HAD WATER BIRTHS.