Eugenics - Human Sperm Created in British Lab (Video) 2009 07 09
British scientists claim a first in medical history by using
embryonic stem cells to create human sperm in a laboratory.
Researchers at Newcastle Uni hope it will help infertile couples
but it has sparked an ethical debate. Sky's Gerard Tubb reports.
In a world first, British scientists have grown human sperm in
the laboratory. The breakthrough in stem cell science offers a
potential cure for male infertility and could be used in IVF
clinics in as little as five years. It would allow thousands of
men to father children that are genetically their own, possibly
from just a sliver of their skin. But the cutting-edge work is
fraught with medical and ethical problems. It raises the
possibility of babies being born entirely through artificial
means, and even the macabre scenario of long-dead men
'fathering' children from beyond the grave. The Newcastle
University work centres on stem cells - 'blank' cells with the
ability to turn into other cell types