In a controversial step that raises the possibility of a new kind of infertility treatment, scientists report that they have produced functional human eggs in the lab that were able to be fertilized with sperm.
The proof-of-concept study, published today in the journal Nature Communications, involves using human skin cells to generate eggs, some of which were capable of producing early-stage embryos.
None of the embryos were used to try to establish a pregnancy, and it’s unlikely that they would have developed much further in the womb. Yet the authors, from Oregon Health and Science University, say the technique could one day be used as an alternative to in vitro fertilization,