Fertility breakthrough as human eggs are grown to maturity in lab: researchers
Very early-stage eggs have been cultivated to the point they could be fertilised, a technique offering pregnancy hope to chemotherapy patients and others
Scientists have grown human egg cells to full maturity in the lab in a potential breakthrough for fertility treatment, they announced in a study published Friday.
Researchers in New York and Edinburgh developed a new method to grow eggs from very early-stage cells obtained from ovary tissue, a team reported in the journal Molecular Human Reproductio n.
The eggs were grown to the point at which they could be fertilised.
This had previously been achieved with mouse egg cells, while human eggs had been successfully cultivated starting from a much later stage of development.
“The latest study is the first time a human egg has been developed in the lab from its earliest stage to full maturity,” said a statement from the University of Edinburgh.
Experts who did not take part in the research hailed the achievement as promising, but stressed it would take years to translate into a safe and proven therapy.
