Scientists from Israel and the UK have for the first time generated artificial human Primordial Germ cells (PGCs) from induced Pluripotent stem cells.
PGCs are precursors cells that eventually develop into sperm and egg cells in the testes and the ovaries respectively. Previously, in 2012, Mitinori Saitou of Kyoto University in Japan and his collaborators first created artificial PGCs from pluripotent stem cells derived from mice skin cells. Although, these cells cannot be cultured into mature gamete cells in vitro but the researchers suspect that they can generate sperm or egg cells if transplanted in the gonads. Scientists have since then been trying use the same method to create artificial PGCs from human induced pluripotent stem cells; however, the process is more complicated than it seems. This is because mouse and human stem cells are different from each other.
It’s only recently that a research team led by Azim Surani of the University of Cambridge, UK, and Jacob Hanna of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel were able to replicate the in vitro part of this process in human stem cells. The cells that they generated have all the markers of Primordial Germ cells. This development is huge because it may provide a way for sterile individuals to have children. However, this technology is far from being implemented. The next step is to implant these cells in the testes and ovaries of mice to see if they can develop into mature gamete cells.
Article: ScienceDaily
Research Paper: Nature
~ Article summary courtesy of Waleed Khan
