Biotechnology is getting into some pretty interesting territory these days. The latest breakthrough comes from Kyoto University where research scientists have, for the first time, created a mouse by using eggs and sperm produced by stem cells alone. The achievement once again shows the remarkable possibilities presented by regenerative technologies like stem cells — but also the unsettling potential for human births in which parents might not be required.
Back in 2011, the same scientists, a team led by Mitinori Saitou, produced healthy mouse pups by using sperm derived from mouse stem cells. But if that wasn’t remarkable enough, they have now shown that it’s also possible to produce viable eggs with stem cells, too. And if just to prove a point, they used their stem cell-derived sperm to fertilize the stem cell-derived eggs to create baby mice.
View the original article here: Breakthrough: Researchers create an animal entirely from stem cells – io9
