• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Film/TV/Stream
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Tech/Science
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Trump critic Liz Cheney falls in U.S. primary, Murkowski survives
  • 13 Reasons Why star Tommy Dorfman gets engaged to a woman.
  • Jonathan Van Ness blasts US government’s response to monkeypox outbreak

Gay Men Could Have Babies Together with Both Men’s DNA According to Breakthrough Skin Cell Research

Andy Towle September 14, 2016 Leave a Comment

gay men babies

New research has opened the door to the possibility that gay men could one day soon have children using just sperm with no need for a female donor egg. In a stunning breakthrough, scientists have created embryos from non-egg cells in mice, and believe they could recreate the process one day in other species.

The AFP explains:

There are two types of cell: “meiotic” reproductive cells (eggs and sperm), and “mitotic” cells which include most of the tissues and organs in our bodies.

Mammal reproduction requires a sperm and egg to fuse, creating an embryo. But instead of using a meiotic egg cell to produce their mouse pups, the researchers used a type of mitotic cell called a parthenogenote. These are very early-stage, single-celled embryos that form without fertilisation — in this case by chemically activating a mouse egg.

Just before the parthenogenotes divided into two cells, they were injected with sperm nuclei to fertilise them. The resulting pups’ survival rate was a quarter that of other mice. Though these are early days, the feat suggested that other types of mitotic cell, such as skin cells, may one day be used to create offspring.

This could open up the possibility for gay men, older women or infertile couples to have children with both parents’ DNA.

The research was undertaken by scientists from the Department of Biology & Biochemistry at the University of Bath, in England:

Molecular embryologist Dr Tony Perry, senior author of the study, said: “This is first time that full term development has been achieved by injecting sperm into embryos.

“It had been thought that only an egg cell was capable of reprogramming sperm to allow embryonic development to take place.

“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 a live mammalian birth.”

The idea was the brain child of Dr Toru Suzuki in Dr Perry’s team in the University of Bath’s Laboratory of Mammalian Molecular Embryology, who performed the study together with team member Dr Maki Asami and colleagues from the University of Regensburg and the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine in Germany.

The baby mice born as a result of the technique seem completely healthy, but their DNA started out with different epigenetic marks compared with normal fertilisation.  This suggests that different epigenetic pathways can lead to the same developmental destination, something not previously shown.

They add:

The discovery has ethical implications for recent suggestions that human parthenogenotes could be used as a source of embryonic stem cells because they were considered inviable. It also hints that in the long-term future it could be possible to breed animals using non-egg cells and sperm. Although this is still only an idea, it could have potential future applications in human fertility treatment and for breeding endangered species.

Topics: Health, towleroad More Posts About: Gay Parents, Health, Medicine

Related Posts
  • Cheyenne Jackson and Husband Jason Landau Welcome Twins
  • CA Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Bill Mandating PrEP Education for HIV-Negative Test Recipients
  • Florida Woman Wins Right to Punch Martin Shkreli in the Deplorable Face
  • 13 Reasons Why star Tommy Dorfman gets engaged to a woman.

    13 Reasons Why star Tommy Dorfman gets engaged to a woman.

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Tommy Dorfman reveals she is engaged to a woman. The ’13 Reasons Why’ actress – who came out as transgender in July 2021 and divorced from ex-husband Peter Zurkuhlen earlier this …Read More »
  • Jonathan Van Ness blasts US government’s response to monkeypox outbreak

    Jonathan Van Ness blasts US government’s response to monkeypox outbreak

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Jonathan Van Ness thinks the US government’s response to the monkeypox outbreak has been “fuelled by homophobia”. The 35-year-old TV star has blasted the government’s “botched response” to the health crisis …Read More »
  • Melissa Etheridge announces solo off-Broadway show

    Melissa Etheridge announces solo off-Broadway show

    Published by New York Daily News NEW YORK — Melissa Etheridge plans to be “the only one” to rock off-Broadway this fall. The Grammy and Academy Award-winning singer-songwriter announced that she will take center stage for …Read More »
  • Fun With The Familia! Madonna Lets Loose In Italy To Celebrate Her & Son Rocco’s Birthdays

    Fun With The Familia! Madonna Lets Loose In Italy To Celebrate Her & Son Rocco’s Birthdays

    Published by OK Magazine mega Twice as nice: Madonna took a trip to Italy to not only celebrate her own birthday, but her son Rocco Ritchie‘s too! The superstar, who turned 64, posted photos and videos …Read More »
Previous Post: « 69-Year-Old Woman Punched in Face by Trump Supporter Speaks Out as Assault Aftermath Video Emerges: WATCH
Next Post: Dr. Oz, Uber, Ryan Seacrest, Polar Bears, Trump’s Health, Colin Kaepernick, Colin Powell, Airpods: HOT LINKS »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • Biden signs $430 billion climate, healthcare and tax bill

    Biden signs $430 billion climate, healthcare and tax bill

  • Judge schedules Thursday hearing on motion to unseal Trump search warrant materials

    Judge schedules Thursday hearing on motion to unseal Trump search warrant materials

  • Dr. Oz Loses $5 Million Of GOP Campaign Funding In Pennsylvania As His Poll Numbers Continue To Plummet

    Dr. Oz Loses $5 Million Of GOP Campaign Funding In Pennsylvania As His Poll Numbers Continue To Plummet

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y’know

  • Ellen Has Not Contacted Ex-Lover Anne Heche Following Fiery Crash Into LA Home

    Ellen Has Not Contacted Ex-Lover Anne Heche Following Fiery Crash Into LA Home

  • Pete Davidson Proposed to Kim Kardashian Before Their Breakup

    Pete Davidson Proposed to Kim Kardashian Before Their Breakup

  • New bombshell book on Trump reveals he wanted to be treated like Hitler: ‘Totally loyal’

    New bombshell book on Trump reveals he wanted to be treated like Hitler: ‘Totally loyal’

RSS Partner Links

  • Wrestle Wednesday
  • Song of the Day: 'Heaven Must Have Sent You' by Bonnie Pointer
  • Page 1 Roundup (08/17)
  • WATCH: Murray Bartlett and Jimmy Fallon share some special Olivia Newton-John memories on “Tonight Show”
  • Morning Wood
  • Biden Signs Inflation Reduction Act — Hands Signing Pen To Manchin
  • Encyclopedia Madonnica Update — Pre-Order!

Most Recent

  • Trump critic Liz Cheney falls in U.S. primary, Murkowski survives

    Trump critic Liz Cheney falls in U.S. primary, Murkowski survives

  • 13 Reasons Why star Tommy Dorfman gets engaged to a woman.

    13 Reasons Why star Tommy Dorfman gets engaged to a woman.

  • Jonathan Van Ness blasts US government’s response to monkeypox outbreak

    Jonathan Van Ness blasts US government’s response to monkeypox outbreak

  • Melissa Etheridge announces solo off-Broadway show

    Melissa Etheridge announces solo off-Broadway show

  • Fun With The Familia! Madonna Lets Loose In Italy To Celebrate Her & Son Rocco’s Birthdays

    Fun With The Familia! Madonna Lets Loose In Italy To Celebrate Her & Son Rocco’s Birthdays

  • Viola Davis joins ‘Hunger Games’ prequel in ‘cruel,’ ‘fearsome’ role

    Viola Davis joins ‘Hunger Games’ prequel in ‘cruel,’ ‘fearsome’ role

  • NFL World Reacts To The Carl Nassib Signing News

    NFL World Reacts To The Carl Nassib Signing News

  • Haunted, self-possessed or just spirited: 2022’s Emmy-nominated songs

    Haunted, self-possessed or just spirited: 2022’s Emmy-nominated songs

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2022 · Log in

×