KYOTO UNIVERSITY, KYOTO, JAPAN. A team of Japanese researchers were able to make mouse eggs from stem cells. They were able to generate cells similar to primordial germ cells (PGCs) from mouse embryonic stem cells, turning it into stem cells which are also known as iPSCs or induced pluripotent stem cells.

They were able to carefully transform these PGC-like cells into sperm. As for the egg cells, they needed iPSCs and embryonic stem cells from the embryo of a female mouse to form young egg cells when it is surrounded by ovary cells. The young egg cells are then implanted into the ovaries of adult mice. After four weeks, they found out that the eggs cells have matured in the ovaries and is ready for fertilization with sperm. Once it has been fertilized with sperm, it is implanted into other female mice. They were able to develop embryos that turned into healthy mouse pups later on.

Katsuhiko Hayashi and his team at Kyoto University in Japan are the people behind this scientific study. The development in this research suggests that these cells are very similar to the PGCs of the human body. Because of the study, it will become easier to identify the factors that have something to do in PGC development. However, the study needs to push through even more since there were reported abnormalities in some of the developed embryos.

As of the moment, the research team couldn’t really tell if the abnormalities were caused by the egg cells or by the environment. Once the problems have been resolved, we can expect it to become a popular solution to people with fertility problems in the very near future.