http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/06/20/nstem20.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/06/20/ixhome.htmlScientists have created the precursors of human sperm and eggs from "building block" stem cells, raising the prospect that infertile and homosexual couples could have babies that are genetically their own.
A British team has, for the first time, used embryonic stem cells to grow primordial germ cells (PGC) which later develop into either sperm or eggs. In addition to being potentially of use in assisted reproduction such as IVF, synthetic sex cells could be used in therapeutic cloning and medical research.
Some researchers believe that the breakthrough means an egg could, in theory, be generated from a man's own stem cells and even that a child could be created from sperm and an engineered egg from the same man.
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