Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University, led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov, have turned women’s skin cells into egg cells for the first time in history. This breakthrough in reproductive medicine could help people who previously had no chance of having a genetically related child, including women who have lost fertility.
The experiment was based on nuclear transfer technology. It was this technique that made it possible to create the famous sheep Dolly in the 1990s. The nucleus of a skin cell was inserted into a donor egg cell from which the nucleus had been removed. The scientists were able to create 82 egg cells, some of which developed into embryos.
Most of the embryos contained an incorrect number of chromosomes, and none survived longer than six days. But despite the low efficiency, the researchers consider the experiment proof of concept. And, according to experts, it will lead to results — possibly within 10 years.
And Dolly the sheep did not appear right away either: from the first attempt to success, it took 3.5 years and 277 failed embryos — which shows that persistence in science brings results.
