Scientists are claiming a breakthrough towards same-sex couples having their own genetic children. Scientists have produced male and female mice from two fathers using stem cell technology. Scientists say this was the first time a species of mammals were tested on and could also be a step towards preserving endangered species and improving live stock breeds.
The team of scientists from Texas were led by Dr. Richard R. Berhringer at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. The team manipulated fibroblasts which is a cell type that is most common in connective tissue in animals from a male (XY) mouse fetus to produce an induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell line. About one percent of iPS cell colonies grown from this XY cell line spontaneously lost the Y chromosome, resulting in XO cells.
These cells were injected into blastocysts from donor female mice before being transplanted into surrogate mothers giving birth to female XO/XX chimeras. The female chimeras, carrying oocytes which are immature ovum derived from the XO cells. These were mated with normal male mice. Some of the offspring were male and female mice that had genetic contributions from two fathers.
The technique was described at the online site of the journal Biology of Reproduction which said that the method could be applied to livestock and also to conserve animal species.
Now same sex couples soon might be able to have a kid who looks like them!