Another new study suggests it’s conceivable that two gay men may one day be able to have a baby together without the need of a female egg, reports PinkNews,
Fertility experts at Bath University in England say they have found a laboratory method to create an embryo by fusing skin cells with sperm cells — eliminating the need for a female to conceive a child. However, a woman would still be necessary as a surrogate mother for the fertilized embryo to nurture and ultimately deliver the baby.
And we’re talking mice here, people, so settle down. Still, it’s a pretty big deal.
“Our work challenges the dogma, held since early embryologists first observed mammalian eggs around 1827 and observed fertilisation 50 years later, that only an egg cell fertilised with a sperm cell can result in live mammalian birth,” said lead scientist and molecular embryologist Dr. Tony Perry.
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Using the technique, 30 mice were born and about a quarter of those births proved viable, although he added there was still much more work to be done before it was considered feasible in humans.
The work at Bath University comes on the heels of a similar finding by Cambridge University, where at this time last year scientists reported a stem cell breakthrough that could help both male and female same-sex parents conceive.
