Health

‘Elixir of Youth’: Scientists to Generate ‘Unlimited Supply’ of Human Eggs That Could Make Women Fertile as Long as Men

Researchers Seek to Fertilize Human Egg Cells They Derived From Stem Cells Leading to Infertility and Menopause Treatment

Illustration of in vitro fertilization. (Image: Wellcome/Flickr)

Earlier this year, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital were able to take donated reproductive stem cells and lead them to develop into human ovary stem cells with immature eggs. Popular Science reports the team “incubated” these eggs in mice and now they are looking to fertilize the more mature cells.

The Harvard University scientists working with a team for Edinburgh University in the U.K. are requesting a license to fertilize the eggs and bring the developing embryos to what is considered the legal limit to determine viability, at which point they would either be frozen or discarded. If viable, the researchers believe this could be the end of infertility and could also have larger implications, leading to the reversal of menopause in women. The Independent goes as far to call this a potential for producing an “elixir of youth” for women.

If fertilization is allowed to occur, the team’s first goal is to prove that the stem cells they used to create eggs did in fact create viable eggs. The Independent reports Professor Richard Anderson of the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, who is leading some of the clinical aspects of this research, as saying one of the best ways to test an “egg is an egg” is to attempt to form a viable embryo.

Here’s the potential Professor Jonathan Tilly of Harvard sees for the research:

“This age-old belief that females are given a fixed ‘bank account’ of eggs at birth is incorrect,” Professor Tilly said.

“In fact ovaries in adulthood are probably more closely matched to testes in adulthood in their capacity to make new germ cells, which are the special cells that give rise to sperm and eggs,“ he said.

”Over the past 50 years, all the basic science, all the clinical work and all the clinical outcome was predicated on one simple belief, that is the oocyte pool, the early egg-cell pool in the ovaries was a fixed entity, and once those eggs were used up they cannot be renewed, replenished or replaced,“ he added.

Tilly’s research earlier this year showed the theory of a a fixed amount of eggs was incorrect and that stem cells within the ovaries can be stimulated to produce more immature — oocyte — egg cells, which in turn can be led to develop into mature eggs.

While the team waits for approval from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in the U.K. to fertilize the eggs, something they would hope to do later this year, Popular Science notes some of the more “frightening” scenarios that could result outside of helping with infertility and reversing some of the negative effects of menopause:

Stem cells turned into human egg cells, which could be fertilized to grow embryos, which would contain more stem cells, which could in turn be harvested …. and so on, as self-contained stem cell factories.

The interreligious blog First Things took it one step further explaining it could lead to human cloning:

elping older women have babies, whatever one might think of its propriety, is not what this technology is primarily about.  Rather, mass egg production would open the door to assembly line human cloning experimentation. But they won’t say that because it could jeopardize public support.

Evelyn Telfer, a reproductive biologist at Edinburgh University, told the Independent the team has the “local ethical approval in place.”

Comments (68)

1 2
  • Moozmom
    Posted on April 14, 2012 at 7:14am

    The reason God stopped fertility in women at 45 or so is that we would forget to take the pill. Case closed.

    Report Post »  
  • Moozmom
    Posted on April 14, 2012 at 7:13am

    Kinda like viagra for women-we older women are “not buying”. I can think of no woman I know over 45 that would even consider wanting more children. We are pooped out!

    Report Post »  
  • lukerw
    Posted on April 14, 2012 at 5:32am

    All Hail… Dr Frankenstein… and the Eugenic Socialists!

    Report Post » lukerw  
  • Ellie
    Posted on April 14, 2012 at 1:59am

    “Tilly’s research earlier this year showed _the theory of a a fixed amount of eggs was incorrect_ and that stem cells within the ovaries _can be_ stimulated to produce more immature — oocyte — egg cells, which in turn _can be led to_ develop into mature eggs.”

    So ovaries (like almost every other organ) have stem cells that are only normally activated when the organ is damaged to replace the otherwise fixed amount of eggs.

    Just because these stem cells _can be_ stimulated into an immature state which in turn _can be led to_ develop into mature eggs doesn’t invalidate the theory that there is a fixed amount of eggs in a healthy, undamaged, set of ovaries as there is still a fixed amount of stem cells.

    Just a nit.

    Toodles :D
    Ellie

    Report Post » Ellie  
  • Searchingforthelight
    Posted on April 14, 2012 at 1:09am

    Who inhabits the clones? Are the Zombies the third hosts of Heaven? Can something that inhabits a
    pig inhabit a clone? Or does God get so full of wrath he takes away the souls of all those involved in this procedure?

    Report Post »  
  • pwatkins
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 11:41pm

    I think we already have humans breeding with rats and many of them seem to be gathering in the DC area. I did see rats running around the White House lawn while Obama was speaking. Obama didn’t say it but I am….he looked like he could be Obama‘s son and if it was a girl could have been Pelosi’s daughter.

    Report Post »  
  • Wilma
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 9:32pm

    Scientists implanted immature human eggs into mice? Did I understand that correctly.

    Report Post » Wilma  
  • Baikonur
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 9:31pm

    I think conservatives are pooping their pants at the thought of women having kids on their own when they are financially self-supporting. Gosh, that really would change thing culturally, wouldn’t it?

    ROFL.

    Report Post » Baikonur  
    • phillipwgirard
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 9:50pm

      Lesbian?

      Report Post » phillipwgirard  
    • Baikonur
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 9:57pm

      @phillipwgirard
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 9:50pm
      Weirdo stalker who can’t post his own thoughts but keeps clutching my skirts?

      Report Post » Baikonur  
  • rl
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 9:27pm

    OH BOY ….. now grandma can have a baby…… can hardly wait!!!1

    Report Post » rl  
  • Copper Catfish
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 7:49pm

    What, so that they can have more unborn babies to abort?
    This is just plain evil, no matter what their motive.

    Report Post »  
  • imsteph
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 7:38pm

    NOOOOOO!!!!

    Had my last child at 34-and THAT was hard-
    These people are flippin NUTZ!

    Report Post » imsteph  
  • Walkabout
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 7:22pm

    For everything there is a time.

    Have people forgotten about entropy? Some things are best done when you are younger & not older.

    What will the lawsuits be like when there is a higher than average defect rate for these babies than for babies born to women in their 20s & 30s?

    Report Post »  
    • Baikonur
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 9:25pm

      Physically, women in their 20′s are the best for bearing children. But since women aren’t dairy cows, and we do not frame public policy or scientific research in terms of how can we best utilize women’s bodies as if they were cattle, this research offers tremendous hope.

      Now women can focus on their interests and education and career, just like men do, and have children when they are ready for them.

      Only good can result from this, I see no negatives here.

      Report Post » Baikonur  
    • JimConstitution
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 10:27pm

      Baikonur, I assume, as you are a liberal, that you believe in evolution. If so women are no more than cows.

      I of course don’t and believe we are made in the image of God. Eggs in mice and then fertilize them to become babies. Thats worse than weird. No thanks, but then it is only a matter of time before it’s done somewhere.

      Report Post » JimConstitution  
    • Walkabout
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 11:46pm

      Baikonur

      Gee, half my family members are female. So I will posit that as my bona fide reason to want good things for women.

      There is a theory that some causes of autism are due to conflicts between the mother at a biological level. A baby is trying to maximize its’ nourishment. A mother is trying to feed the baby without physically taxing her too much. This all goes on at physiological level. Check out the science mags. The short of is that when the mother wins the maybe is deprived of some nutrients & is born autistic.

      And here is my point. This is more likely to happen the older a mother gets. Just figure it this way a 14 y/o has twice the metabolic rate as 50 year old. All the spring unwinding all those process slowly growing more awry (entropy) adds up.

      There is a time for everything like the Bible says.

      BTW I am a big fan of Heinlein books. Maybe one day we learn how to prevent aging or reverse.
      But for all that we will still eventually die. Actuaries calculate life expectancy where no one died form old age to be about 600 years.

      Doesn’t matter if you live a million years. god is still important.

      Report Post »  
  • Baikonur
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 7:14pm

    Yay, funnyand cool.

    Men, now you will actually have to audition for a role of equal partner. It’s a free market system, don’t worry.

    Report Post » Baikonur  
    • phillipwgirard
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 9:44pm

      @ BAIKONO, why do you need more laws,,,oh yeah, no common sense and a man hater to boot,lol

      Report Post » phillipwgirard  
  • Gamaliel
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 6:29pm

    I thought babies were a punishment; why do me want to force women to keep having them past menopause? Romney and his lazy wife, Ann, must be behind this one!

    Report Post »  
    • Baikonur
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 7:15pm

      Lol, babies aren’t the punishment–poverty and having to put up with men is.

      Report Post » Baikonur  
    • Gamaliel
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 8:03pm

      To Baikonur – But your Messiah BO said babies are a punishment; so it has to be true. Also, his agenda has freed women from the burden of having to have a man around. And if you think having a baby causes poverty go get yourself some Obama money.

      Report Post »  
    • Baikonur
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 8:30pm

      @And if you think having a baby causes poverty go get yourself some Obama money.

      I don’t think babies cost a lot of money, I know it for a fact :) I had three babies, while married, and poor, and they cost an enormous amount of money. I loved my babies, and I struggled horribly because of the cost. If you don’t think that becoming a parent can plunge you into the depths of poverty, then you have never contemplated the costs between children‘s Christmas presents and that month’s rent, or needed underwear and socks versus the book club choices, Easter baskets for the kids versus new work shoes for you, the month‘s furnace being filled with oil for heat versus getting a crown put on a tooth that can’t wait.

      I made those choices, They hurt a lot. I don;t want other young women to have to make such choices.

      Report Post » Baikonur  
    • Gamaliel
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 8:49pm

      I did not not express an opinion on the costs involved in having a baby – I commented on your opinion that “poverty and having to put up with men” were the punishment for having a baby.

      Silly you. . . my experience raising children were similar to yours due to the fact that I chose to stay home with them while my husband made the median income. I thank the Demoncats for that because the mother‘s income is just paying the increase in taxes on families that my parents weren’t burdened with. Government used to view women raising children as a positive thing so didn’t tax married couples with children into oblivion like thay do now.

      BTW my husband is my best friend and partner in raising our kids. . . he’s not a burden either!

      Report Post »  
    • Baikonur
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 9:17pm

      It is great that your husband remained your best friend throughout the years of your common finanical sacrifices and child rearing. Don’t forget, though, that had he been a douche bag, you would have been out in the cold with no education, work experience, or money, but still with the responsibility for your children.

      Women’s rights cannot depend on the wage earning partner being a nice guy. So oftenthey are not. That is why we need laws that make the playing field equal for both child bearing partners.

      Report Post » Baikonur  
    • Gamaliel
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 9:30pm

      BAIKONUR – “Don’t forget, though, that had he been a douche bag, you would have been out in the cold with no education, work experience, or money, but still with the responsibility for your children. ”

      I think you’re talking about yourself here; the above doesn’t describe me. (I would’ve noticed before marriage if a guy was like the one you describe. I also was old enough to have some education, work experience & experience taking care of myself. I guess you could say I was a grown-up.).

      You sound quite helpless; just be sure the law you seek doesn’t end up being Sharia.

      Report Post »  
    • Baikonur
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 9:44pm

      @Gamaliel
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 9:30pm
      ****************
      I married and had children when I was very young. Maybe that is why it felt so much harder for me than for you. I eventually made my career and received a great education, but at a very heavy cost.

      But you are right, it was my fault all along. You win Gamaliel–you are strong, I am weak, you are good, I am bad. Happy? :) Let’s join forces to support whatever Republican candidate Glenn chooses for us. If that candidate is not sympathetic toward women’s lives, who cares?

      Helpless women, poor women, young women do not deserve any help from us. It’s their fault for being so trusting and foolish. Screw them. We are ok, and that’s all that matters, right?

      Report Post » Baikonur  
    • Gamaliel
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 10:15pm

      If you knew anything about Beck you‘d know he’s not picking the Republican nominee for anyone here.

      Like I said, watch out for Sharia law and the alliances now being formed to defeat constitutional America. Don’t be a useful idiot due to your suffering and struggles. USA is not perfect but still affords the most freedom of any system ever in history.

      I’m not strong, smart or any of those things. I used to buy into the liberal crap like you still do. Stop looking for a life without struggle. Life is not like this for anyone. Stop blaming others for your failures
      and expecting the government to take care of you and bail you out when you meet difficulties.

      Americans are the most generous people in the world and what is called poverty here is not poverty anywhere else. Thank God you live here and appreciate what you have before you lose it.

      Report Post »  
    • Baikonur
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 10:33pm

      Gamaliel,

      My children are adults, and I no longer live in the US. I do vote, however–a privilege of my US citizenship. And I will always vote for the smarter, kinder, gentler, more civilized and more practical candidate. I used to vote Republican, because I thought the Republicans had smarter answers to the issues the country faces, but the 2008 election changed all that for me. Republicans don’t even care about the issues the country faces any more. No party that blatantly nominates a complete fool to be a heartbeat away from the presidency is serious.

      I am not a wide-eyed innocent. My experiences have shown me what being at an economic and legal disadvantage means to a human life, and how easily these disadvantages are used against the weak to humiliate and disqualify them. I know first hand what it means to not have health insurance even though you work very hard full time.

      This may seem off topic, but maybe you will understand–once I took my children, when they were small, on vacation to the Bahamas. It was only our first vacation since my dovorce, and I saved every penny and researched very carefully all year. We stayed in a cottage with a kitchen at a resort. that was famous for its snorkeling, and caught a little local bus to the local grocery store. When we visited the store, we were the only white people there. No one was mean. But they looked at us. And I understood for the first time ever how black people feel when they are the only minority.

      Report Post » Baikonur  
    • Gamaliel
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 11:27pm

      BAIKONUR

      Oh sure, communism and/or Sharia are kinder, gentler. You just can‘t see what you don’t want to see.

      Vacation in the Bahamas after the divorce with three small kids. I see government help written all over this one. Are you sure there was no help with education, housing, food, transportation, childcare in there somewhere to make this trip possible?

      You sure have me outdone on that one!

      I did childcare in my home for girls and women on welfare. I worked a 60 hour week doing so while my husband put in 70 of more hours working.These little girls with babies had a far easier lifestyle than we had working all those hours while raising their kids too!

      Report Post »  
  • Midwest Blonde
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 6:26pm

    Whatever “good” may come of this (overcoming infertility) is fine but I’ll be damned if I want to go back to “before menopause”. At 60, I don’t worry about birth control, and I don’t want to worry about it…..

    Report Post » Midwest Blonde  
  • Mark0331
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 6:07pm

    …that‘s the ’godless lefts’ wet dream, even more babies to slaughter…Baal is grinning.

    Report Post » Mark0331  
  • RedheadTexan
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 6:06pm

    This wouldn‘t only be about women in their 50’s. Some women go into premature menopause for a variety of reasons. They lose their fertility before they even hit their 40′s. Maybe it could also be applied to women who have lost their fertility to cancer treatments. I am always wary of arguments that say something is bad because someone could use it in a bad way. That‘s like saying we shouldn’t get to have guns, because some people use them for crime.

    Report Post »  
    • centenium
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 7:14pm

      How about the natural effect this might have? What would be the physical ramifications of an older woman going through the changes of pregnancy? I was taught by my wife of the physical changes a woman’s body goes through and that rebounding from a pregnancy gets harder as a woman ages. This could be dangerous to mess with God’s intentions.

      Report Post » centenium  
  • Rational Man
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 5:52pm

    These same scientists support abortion, I’m assume………….

    There are millions of children that need a home. Why not adopt? Save a life instead!

    Report Post » Rational Man  
  • tommart22
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 5:51pm

    Well…. I could see this as a blessing for women if they are infurtile and this is able to fix it…. but logically, most women aren’t going to wan to have a child past their forties….. but this whole thing could open a really big and bad can of worms….. especially if there are darker motives in mind like the end of the article suggests.

    Report Post »  
    • Rational Man
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 6:00pm

      Yep!…..Eugenics!………..“Master Race”

      Let me see, who else was into this kind of stuff. Oh ya!………Hitler and the Nazis!
      Not to mention all the other radical progressives in history……………….

      Report Post » Rational Man  
    • Granny58
      Posted on April 15, 2012 at 9:10am

      @Rational Man – Let‘s not forget the eugenics movement in the early 20th century in the good ole’ USA! In fact, Nazi Germany admired and emulated our approach! To anyone who thinks it can’t happen here, it already did.

      Report Post »  
  • qpwillie
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 5:46pm

    I can just see all the 65 year old women out there jumping up and down in anticipation of being able to get pregnant again.

    Report Post » qpwillie  
  • hatchetjob
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 5:42pm

    The welfare peeps ought to enjoy this, they can keep having babies well into old age. Imagine the amount of their check will be with 25 or more kids.

    Report Post » hatchetjob  
  • Itsjusttim
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 5:28pm

    Alright, then you will have even more children who can’t grasp reality because God will engineer them to be born castrated from your world. You better believe it.

    Report Post » Itsjusttim  
    • Itsjusttim
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 5:29pm

      And God’s a much better engineer than all you scientists can imagine.

      Report Post » Itsjusttim  
    • Itsjusttim
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 5:31pm

      If you don’t like that you have a child with autism, then blame scientists who can’t help but cross the line.

      Report Post » Itsjusttim  
    • Itsjusttim
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 5:34pm

      If you did something wrong and waited too long to have a child, then it’s your own fault and you should pay the price, and maybe when you are reborn again, then you should choose wisely.

      Report Post » Itsjusttim  
    • Rational Man
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 5:54pm

      “………………God will engineer them to be born castrated from your world.”

      Your a lunatic and an embarrassment………………..

      Report Post » Rational Man  
    • Baikonur
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 9:35pm

      Shut up, ‘Rational man,’ I like Tim better than most of you weirdos.

      Report Post » Baikonur  
    • Cesium
      Posted on April 15, 2012 at 1:52pm

      yes Tim, god is a much better engineer than any scientists can imagine because god is imaginary. For once you are so right!

      Report Post »  
  • LadyLibertykicksASS
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 5:26pm

    I really don’t think this is such a great idea…….who wants to be 75 and pregnant????? There’s a shut off date for a reason!!!!!!. Just cause you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.

    Report Post »  
    • TerryDo
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 5:42pm

      I do not believe that most women past 50 years old wants to have a baby.
      Instead of working on ‘Unlimited Supply of Human Eggs’ the scientists should be working on a great pill that keeps womens libido drive high into their eighties, now that would be more welcomed than having children at 50, 60, 70 years old… Please………… are you scientists serious.

      Report Post »  
    • Baikonur
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 7:23pm

      @TerryDo
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 5:42pm
      ‘I do not believe that most women past 50 years old wants to have a baby.’
      **************
      Not the ones who already have, but the ones who haven’t may want to. Plus, this way, women can wait to have children until they are finanically successfull enough to take care of them on their own, without having to rely on someone else.

      Good stuff. Independence.

      Report Post » Baikonur  
  • EarthtoMel
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 5:26pm

    Why in the heck would any woman in her right mind want to go through pregnancy after she is in her 50′s?
    Not me!

    Report Post »  
    • Capt. Ron
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 6:19pm

      I know a number of women that are older and would like kids. Plus they would likely take of them better than younger people. Plus they would be wanted not just a accident.

      Report Post » Capt. Ron  
    • Walkabout
      Posted on April 13, 2012 at 7:26pm

      Capt. Ron

      Even if the genetics of the egg & sperm are good the kid could have an increased risk of autism due to an older mother.

      I would rather see a woman being a mama in her 20s & working in her 50s than the other way around.

      The other way around is a well intentioned train wreck brought on by hubris & not checking out all the angles.

      Report Post »  
    • Searchingforthelight
      Posted on April 14, 2012 at 1:12am

      How do you know for a fact that radiation doesn’t cause degeneration of the semen inside the sac
      leading to autism? I know cases of children born to men of 30.

      Report Post »  
  • TSUNAMI-22
    Posted on April 13, 2012 at 5:26pm

    ‘Elixir of Youth’: Scientists to Generate ‘Unlimited Supply’ of Human Eggs That Could Make Women Fertile as Long as Men
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Nothing like having an unlimited supply of humans to harvest for slavery.

    Report Post »  
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