New research claims babies can be created from synthetic egg

Copenhagen, Denmark, Jun 22, 2005 / 22:00 pm

A new scientific development could theoretically eliminate the physical need for both men and women for human reproduction and see a single man have his own child — a clone — using his sperm and a synthetic egg created in the lab from his own genetic material.

British scientists announced the news Monday at a European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. They said this new research, which combines advances in cloning and embryonic stem-cell research, could be possible in the not-too-distant future.

Harry Moore, leader of the research team at Britain's University of Sheffield, said the goal was probably 10 years away, reported CNSNews.com. The research team claimed they had proven that human embryonic stem cells have the ability to form the "primordial germ cells" that eventually become eggs and sperm.
These germ cells can then be isolated and manipulated in the lab to form synthetic eggs and sperm. This would enable scientists to form new embryos and harvest their stem cells for research, without having to rely on egg donors, reported CNS.

This research also means that in the future, two homosexuals could have their own child. In other words, the child could be created using the genes of both partners — the sperm of one, and a synthetic egg engineered from the stem cells of the other. A surrogate mother would still be necessary to carry the child.
"This is moving the argument beyond what you do with the embryo," Dr. David van Gend of the World Federation of Doctors Who Respect Human Life told CNS Tuesday. "It's about what you can do with those cells once you've abused the embryo."

"You first violate the little embryos, who are mere material for the consumption of science, then on top of that the human family is further violated by making possible this unnatural situation where a little child ... will never have the possibility of having a mom and a dad.”