Create sperm from skin cells

US scientists can create early-stage sperm from skin cells, opening a new hope for treating male infertility.

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Cell Report (USA) has just published a scientific study showing that it is possible to convert skin cells into early stage sperm, and they believe that this finding will create a new breakthrough in non-surgical treatment. male birth

Currently, about 10-15% of couples are infertile. If the error from the male side is mostly the innate problem. The most common error is the spontaneous disappearance of important genes located on the Y chromosome, however, it is still unclear what causes this phenomenon.

All three infertile men lost some DNA on the Y chromosome, which involved producing little or no sperm. Scientists genetically engineered cell fibroblast-linked tissues taken from their skin samples into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS).

Photo: Express.co.uk

This is a rejuvenated adult cell that allows them to acquire embryonic stem cells, including the ability to grow like any body tissue.

IPS cells "struggle" to form sperm in the laboratory. After being implanted into the testes of mice, they became precursors of sperm cells, though less than the numbers produced by healthy iPS cells.

Lead researcher Dr. Reijo Pera (Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University in the US) said: "Our study is the first to introduce an experimental model to study. It has the potential to be used in cell-based treatments, increasing the number and quality of a person's sperm, and we can even transplant this cell directly into testes of men who have problems in sperm production ".

Dr. Reijo added: "Our research shows that the use of stem cells can serve as an initial material to diagnose stem cell defects and be able to produce stem cells." .

In 2012, US scientists at Pittsburgh demonstrated that it is possible to create sperm cell precursors from human iPS cells, improving the prospects of fertility recovery for men. However, they did not start with adult skin cells from infertile men.