Egg Cells from Skin Cells?

     In this article, scientists are working to create a human egg from an adult cell. They used a technique that combines cloning with fertilization, along with a small amount of chemical coaxing. Researchers had succeeded in producing egg cells of many other types of animals, so the hunt to produce egg and sperm of humans has been on.

    An attempt was made when the nucleus from a human egg cell was taken out and replaced with the nucleus of a skin cell, which is called somatic cell nuclear transfer. In this case, the researchers weren't trying to clone a human, but wanted to make an egg cell, which is half of the DNA of a skin cell. When done on mice, once the cloned egg was fertilized, it removed half of its chromosomes in order to take in the chromosomes of the sperm. In human eggs, this did not happen, so the researchers added roscovitine to persuade the egg to allow the chromosomes to be removed. This led to no viable eggs, since many would kick out the wrong half of chromosomes or end up with an incorrect number of chromosomes. It is theorized that it's due to the chromosomes pairing up randomly instead of with their specific other half, like in normal meiosis.

    This is still being tested in Japan, and hopefully, these trials are getting us a step closer to creating viable eggs. I think this is such an interesting idea that can help many people who would like biological children, but have reasons they wouldn't be able to. The fact that similar tests have been proven possible in other animals makes me optimistic about the probability of this becoming an option in the future.

Babies With 3 Parents?

On February 3, 2015, British lawmakers voted to put forth a law that allowed in vitro fertilization (a complex series of procedures used to treat fertility or genetic problems and assist with the conception of a child) using the DNA of three people. The vote was 382 to 128, which still requires the final move from the House of the Lords. However, the lack of objection from the House of the Lords on the House of Commons means that this move could become a law quickly. This move has made Britain the first country in the world to allow the alteration of a human egg or embryo before placing it in the uterus. In the embryo, the DNA would come from the parents and the mitochondrial DNA would come from the donor. Of course, the alterations caused some social debates on the ethics of creating a "designer baby". One fear of the concept of "designer babies" is that it will become a market for children with certain features. 

The bold move could potentially pave the way for genetically engineering children after conception, allowing geneticists to possibly cure other diseases that are inherited. The move could not only affect children before conception, but could also affect people with mitochondrial diseases. Having the ability to genetically modify structures that may be lacking in producing energy outside the mitochondria could result in cures to diseases such as muscular dystrophy.

I think that this is a great advancement for the health care field. Couple's who had a very high chance of conceiving a child with a mitochondrial deficiency now have the ability to control whether or not the child will inherit the disease. Many people will look down on this new law assume that it is for polygamists without realizing the benefits that it could give to many children. 

The original article can be found here. 

More information on IVF can be found here.