The Japanese team had already managed to create sperm from stem cells, and this is their latest advance. They performed a very complex experiment, creating eggs from skin cells, building an ovary-like structure to support the eggs when they transplanted them into the mice, and then using IVF techniques to fertilise the eggs. Not only did the embryos implant and lead to pregnancies, but the babies themselves have been shown to be fertile and able to reproduce.
There is still a very long way to go to find out whether this could work with human skin cells and eggs, but it does offer hope for the future. Fertility treatments have become more successful in recent years, but cannot reverse the effects of the biological clock on female eggs - and women who don't have viable eggs of their own currently need to use donor eggs. Today's news raises the possibility that perhaps one day in the future, there will be other options available.
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