For the first time, scientists have been able to create a mouse egg cell from a male skin cell. A team led by Katsuhiko Hayashi of Kyushu University in Japan cultivated male mouse skin cells and programmed them to revert to a state resembling a stem cell. They replaced the Y chromosome with a second X chromosome from the same individual, and prompted them to grow into egg cells. With egg cells produced by a male, fertilized by another male, they implanted 600 embryos into female mice, which resulted in seven live pups born with two biological fathers. These mice were healthy, grew normally, and eventually produced offspring of their own.
The process for doing this with human cells is much more complicated, but if it ever succeeds, it could be a boon to people suffering from infertility. The research was prompted by the plight of women with Turner's syndrome, in which one X chromosome is incomplete or missing. Read more about the mice with two fathers at the Guardian. -via Damn Interesting
(Image credit: Rama)