We’re living in a dystopic sci-fi nightmare that only gets more bizarre every day.
Not only are we about to encounter three-parent embryos that can pass down traits to their offspring, but now China says they have created viable, artificial sperm.
Via the Daily Mirror:
Scientists have claimed they have found a way for women to have babies without men by creating artificial sperm.
The team from China claim they have created healthy mouse babies by injecting laboratory-made sperm into eggs to produce mouse offspring.
….
The mouse cells produced were technically “spermatids” – undeveloped sperm that lack tails and cannot swim. Yet when they were injected into mouse eggs, mimicking a common IVF technique called Icsi (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), they delivered viable embryos and healthy, fertile babies.
Why China, home of the one-child policy, even cares enough to bother to make artificial sperm is anyone’s guess, but it’s equally sad that media outlets seem to be heralding the announcement as a marvelous day when men won’t be necessary for the reproductive act to continue the race…
dan