Scientists birth 30 baby mice from embryos made in non-egg cells
- 8 years ago
Scientists at the University of Bath in the U.K. have made a discovery that they say challenges almost two centuries of knowledge on fertilization.
It is widely thought that mammals could only be born from an egg fertilized with sperm, but this discovery, published in the journal Nature Communication, bypasses that entirely.
According to a University of Bath article on the study, researchers used chemicals to “trick” mouse eggs into developing as if they’d been fertilized. This produced parthenogenotes, an embryo that dies after a few days.
At this point the embryos had a half set of chromosomes and were in the stages of cell division, notes an NHS report. It’s here that researchers injected them with sperm. These embryos were then inserted into female mice and the process produced 30 mouse pups with a success rate of around one in four.
It is widely thought that mammals could only be born from an egg fertilized with sperm, but this discovery, published in the journal Nature Communication, bypasses that entirely.
According to a University of Bath article on the study, researchers used chemicals to “trick” mouse eggs into developing as if they’d been fertilized. This produced parthenogenotes, an embryo that dies after a few days.
At this point the embryos had a half set of chromosomes and were in the stages of cell division, notes an NHS report. It’s here that researchers injected them with sperm. These embryos were then inserted into female mice and the process produced 30 mouse pups with a success rate of around one in four.