Scientists create embryos from skin cells in groundbreaking study
Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University just made early human embryos using eggs created by transferring the nucleus of a skin cell into a donor egg.
They used a method called somatic cell nuclear transfer—basically, they swapped the DNA of a skin cell into an empty donor egg.
Out of 82 eggs created, about 9% developed to the blastocyst stage (an early stage of embryo development).
New step mitomeiosis was introduced
The team introduced a new step called "mitomeiosis" to make the eggs more like natural ones by halving their chromosome number.
But some embryos had genetic glitches, so this isn't ready for real-world use yet.
Ethical guidelines are crucial as research moves forward
If perfected, this could help women with few eggs, cancer survivors, or same-sex couples have genetically related kids—imagine making an egg from your own skin!
Still, scientists say it'll be at least another decade before this is safe enough for clinics and stress that ethical guidelines are crucial as research moves forward.