Sperm Made From Female Bone Marrow, Men Obsolete?

Shaitan Apistos writes "British scientists have discovered a way to turn female bone marrow into sperm, allowing women to reproduce without the need of male companionship. All children born of this method would be female, due the lack Y chromosomes, and there is high chance of birth defects. Eggs also can be created from male bone marrow, but men looking to reproduce would still need to find a surrogate mother to handle the gestation period. I'd like to take a moment to welcome our new amazonian overlords and remind them that men are still very good at mowing lawns and fixing cars."

Infertility Applications

[amilham]

I think something people seem to be missing from this is that it could be great for couples (of whatever orientation) with men who are infertile. If sperm can be produced artificially from their bone marrow, they could still father children biologically.

Too late!

[amilham]

It's already been done:
https://www.officialtvwebsite.com/onetouchjaropener/ver3/index.asp?did=644&phone=1-800-540-6849&refcode=jar3Kg5 [officialtvwebsite.com]

A couple of comments on this:

[Upaut]

1.) This is an argument against all those advocating to ban same sex marriage, because they "cannot reproduce". Quite the common argument recently. Despite my second point.

2.) THEY DID THIS FIVE YEARS AGO. Really. While I was still in high school I cheered the first time someone pulled this off. I used it in a debate with someone on the case of gay marriage. Its in my old Science News... I mean this might be a team doing it again, or doing it better, but they are still not the first.

Just my 2 cents.

Re:Czech SciFi movie

[Maljin Jolt]

I remember there is an old Czech SciFi movie about an utopian society where men are obselete and women procastrinate by cloning. Anyone remember then name?

That movie is not Czech, but Polish, original title is "Sexmisja" (Sexmise in Czech dabing). Some early 80', I guess. In after-nuclear war epoch, women consolidated a society in underground bunkers-mines system, ruled by two opposing organizations, Genetix and Archeo, struggling each other with different ideologies... until they found a hybernation chamber with two frozen men in excavations.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088083/?___412 [imdb.com]

Well, seems a story writer is a Czech :)

Re:Of course men not obsolete just yet

[Tony Hoyle]

Here's at least one link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Reimer [wikipedia.org]

Please don't cite The Daily Mail

[Critical_]

The Daily Mail is considered a tabloid rag by many of us who have lived in the UK because they cater to people with a palate for sensationalist headlines and content. The referenced New Scientist article [newscientist.com] talking about Karim Nayernia's research was published in April of 2007 but The Daily Mail chose to report it many months later. Regardless, since last year there have been few tangible gains in this field. The problem rests in the fact that converted stem cells can achieve the first 2 of 3 stages towards mature sperm development. Even once this is done there is no guarantee the sperm can actually be used in IVF to create a viable/implantable fertilized egg.

The implications of this research are great but rags like The Daily Mail focus on the most provocative uses such as gay/lesbian couples conceiving and auto-reproduction. Before we can approve this research for use in the public we must ascertain whether the manipulations necessary to force conversion of bone marrow stem cells into spermatogonium or the products of these cells potentially introduce undetectable abnormalities within the genetic code. Next, during the process of spermatogenesis chromosomal crossover introduces genetic variability. Without more details in the original article I wonder if one of the failing stages of development involves this important process. Lastly, auto-reproduction is nearly impossible. Every person carries a set of lethal recessive alleles which manifest themselves in incestuous reproductive pairings--hence why most societies have shunned this sort of relationship. This would almost certainly guarantee the fetus would spontaneously abort.

The real application of this research is injecting spermatogonium eggs in women or men who are infertile. This would revolutionize reproductive medicine because it would allow couples to conceive naturally. However, being in the medical field, there are very valid natural reasons why couples may not be able to reproduce (i.e. certain genetic abnormalities) or why fetuses spontaneously abort that we need to decide as a society whether its prudent to interfere. I don't claim to have the answers but I would welcome discussion in this direction so we can make informed choices in the medical breakthroughs we're bound to see in the next few decades.

Incidentally, the New Scientist published a new article [newscientist.com] today on the matter discussing the implications of this research. Without having a subscription I can't read more but I certainly wouldn't count out fathers just yet. Having a child is only the first part of the equation. Raising an emotionally and psychologically well-adjusted child still necessitates their role--although many single-parents or LGBT couples may argue this point. Anyway, as a community I hope we're a bit more careful of citing sensationalist publications.

Re:Of course men not obsolete just yet

[ydrol]

The depressing thing is, as a man I can't really think of why we should be allowed to stick around.

I saw this linked on /. before. Here it is again. A good time to wheel it out ...

Is there Anything Good About Men? [fsu.edu]

Re:Also well

[AgentPaper]

The Y chromosome has very little on it, in terms of functioning gene packages - it carries SRY (the sex-determining region that codes for male primary and secondary sex characteristics) and that's about it. X, on the other hand, carries quite a bit of important information - genes pertaining to blood clotting, muscle tissue formation, neuron and myelin sheath formation, androgen receptor formation, white blood cell formation and color photoreceptor formation, just to name a few.

In an XY individual, you only have one chance to get working copies of those genes, which is why certain disorders pertinent to those systems show up much more often in males than in females (hemophilia and other hematologic disorders, various muscular dystrophies, myopathies and neuropathies, a few immune disorders, pattern baldness, color blindness et al). Without any X at all, as you'd have in a YY, all those genes are gone completely. Hopefully you can see why an individual with non-functional muscles and nerves, no ability to clot and no immune function wouldn't be viable. :-)

Hope this helps!