Background News:
Yesterday's international news subverted the traditional concept of human biography & mdash; & mdash; & mdash; A Lab of the UK announced that the first use of embryonic stem cells cultivated human sperm in vitro, which means that sperm may no longer need to be manufactured in men.However, whether this cell substance can be called a true sperm in the true sense, there is a voice of doubts in the scientific community at home and abroad, and the basic judgment of experts from the Shanghai University Institutes is "artificial sperm is like gods."
This time, the staff of scientific research institutions such as Newcastle University in the United Kingdom used embryo stem cells with XY male chromosomes as "seeds" to prepare a "nutrient solution" composed of chemicals and vitamins to differentiate stem cells and form sperm.Under a microscope, this artificial sperm is similar to human sperm, with heads and tails, you can swim.
Because embryonic stem cells exist in the fetus, if this technology can be achieved, it can extract the stem cells of the fetus in the abdomen and create its sperm before it was born.In addition, because the scientific experiments that reducing human skin as a stem cell state have achieved a certain success, it can also use skin cells to create stem cells and re -sperm in theory.
Compared with the public's ethical doubts about artificial essence, scientists have issued more technical questions.Professor Zhou Guomin, director of the Department of Anatomy and Organization of the Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, believes that inducing stem cell development in vitro has a variety of possibilities, which may lead to changes in cell morphology and may cause cell function changes.He introduced that the development process experienced by sperm in testicles and epididymis is very complicated. It requires various factors in the body to regulate and control, and the lack of any ring may lead to immature sperm."This artificial sperm may be just like, not a god, and may not have genetic functions, or lack of some functions."
Three years ago, the main members of the British research team cultivated artificial sperm in a similar method, and injected it into the mother and mouse eggs, and finally implanted the generated embryo into the surrogate mother and mouse.In the meantime, only 7 rats were raised in about 400 fertilized eggs.One of the cubs died soon after birth, and the remaining 6 died 5 months later, while the average life expectancy of normal mice was about 2 years.In view of this, whether artificial sperm can help human beings, or whether to ensure the health of offspring, is still a big question mark.However, experts also said that the study is still meaningful to further understand the sperm development mechanism and explain the cause of immature sperm.
(Editor in charge: Internship Liu Suqiong)
