End of infertility is nigh, say scientists
Experts made the forecast on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the birth of the world’s first test tube baby Louise Brown.
Scientists believe the miracle will be achieved by combining stem cell technology and fertility treatment.
Early experiments on mice have already indicated the possibility of turning stem cells into eggs or sperm which could then be used to help infertile couples.
Stem cells are the body’s unprogrammed “master” cells. Those taken from early-stage embryos can potentially be made to develop into any tissue in the human body.
Scientists at the cutting edge of fertility research think it is only a matter of time before the technique is used to re-build sperm and egg cells.
Professor Alan Trounson, from the Monash Institute of Reproduction and Development in Victoria, Australia, said at a briefing in London yesterday: “I believe in future everybody who is infertile can be helped. I say that because I think what the future holds for us is the intersection of the stem cell area with the reproductive area. It hasn’t happened yet, but it will. In future we’ll be able to take cells and reconstruct the equivalent of sperm and eggs.”
He said in the 25 years since Louise Brown’s historic conception, in-vitro fertilisation techniques had progressed to the point where they could be used to help three quarters of infertile couples, but some cases remain impossible to treat, particularly those men and women who produce no sperm or eggs.
The ability to create sperm or eggs from stem cells could theoretically make infertility a thing of the past, assuming everyone had access to the treatment. Professor Trounson added: “I think we’re talking about 10 years plus, because there’s a lot of work to do to show the efficiency and safety of these procedures, and we’ve got to do the basic work.”
However, scientists had already made some headway. One team in the US had caused mouse embryonic stem cells to begin to transform into eggs. Another from Japan had used stem cells to make immature sperm.
Recreated sperm or eggs which contained genetic abnormalities that might hinder fertilisation could be corrected in the laboratory.
One way of producing them would be to extract stem cells from embryos cloned from a patient’s own body. But another approach being investigated by scientists is to take an adult cell and “de-programme” it so that it becomes the equivalent of an embryonic stem cell.
