Scientists "create sperm from stem cells"

[Soapy Sam]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...in-world-first-claims-British-university.html

According to the item linked, scientists have managed to create viable sperm from stem cells in mice. Possible implications include a route to parthenogenesis in humans. The stem cells might (conceivably) be female.
The usual arguments & ethical debate have begun.

Personally, I think there are already far too many humans on one planet . I find myself agreeing with the critic at the end of the item who feels infertility is not a pressing problem. But that's just one view.
Others?

 

[Ivor the Engineer]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...in-world-first-claims-British-university.html

According to the item linked, scientists have managed to create viable sperm from stem cells in mice human embryonic stem cells. Possible implications include a route to parthenogenesis in humans. The stem cells might (conceivably) be female.
The usual arguments & ethical debate have begun.

Personally, I think there are already far too many humans on one planet . I find myself agreeing with the critic at the end of the item who feels infertility is not a pressing problem. But that's just one view.
Others?

Most problems being worked on are not very pressing to most people. Should we stop doing everything else and just concentrate on curing cancer and dementia?

Perhaps the technology being developed for creating sperm cells might have application in solving problems you do find worth looking at?

Having said that, when I first heard the headline "Researchers create human sperm cells in the lab" the image I had in my mind did not involve complicated technology, just a petri dish and a hand.

 

[Monketi Ghost]

*snip*... when I first heard the headline "Researchers create human sperm cells in the lab" the image I had in my mind did not involve complicated technology, just a petri dish and a hand.

what came to my mind was, "It's bogus and will turn out to be so."

Sam, good to see you BTW.

 

[casebro]

Next step, create eggs using similar techniques. When the combine the home made egg with a home made sperm, will the resulting embryo be better than a clone? The current clones have problems, they seem to lack some sorting mechanisms.

 

[Soapy Sam]

Ivor - I'm not opposed to the research in any way.
I don't feel it's justified on fertility treatment grounds alone, but as I say I don't see human fertility as a pressing problem. Just my personal POV.
The implications of this research go way beyond fertility treatment though, which is why I ask for other points of view. One clear possibility is a form of parthenogenesis. The social implications of that might be revolutionary.

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

Most problems being worked on are not very pressing to most people. Should we stop doing everything else and just concentrate on curing cancer and dementia?

I understand that pure research leads to new knowledge in general and may helps in unforeseen ways, BUT I think if the purpose of the current research was to enhance fertility, I do think we should re-think spending money on that.

We could get unforeseen benefits from research on stuff that we do in fact need.

With nearly 7 billion people on the planet, we really don't have a fecundity problem. In fact, we have an overpopulation problem. The Green Revolution merely postponed the point where we've got more mouths to feed than food, and guaranteed that when we do deal with population in that regard, we'll also be struggling with other issues like climate change, massive refugee movement, wars, etc.

Having said all that, I have no idea if the intention of the research in question was to enhance fertility treatment, or if that just happened to be one possible application of what they found.

 

[Dogdoctor]

What's the big deal? I have been making viable sperm cells for quite some time now. It sounds like these aren't entirely viable sperm cells since in their experiment the mice born from these sperm did not survive long enough to reproduce. It's interesting and perhaps will lead to other important discoveries. Claims that this will be useful in 10 years time sounds like wishful thinking. They have not worked all the bugs out of cloning yet and they have been doing that for longer than 10 years.

 

[kerikiwi]

With nearly 7 billion people on the planet, we really don't have a fecundity problem. .

Starvation is not a human food production problem. It is a personal nutrition problem. The food does not get to those who want it.
Infertility is not a fecundity problem, it is a personal problem. The babies don't get to those who want them.

 

[kerikiwi]

when we do deal with population in that regard, we'll also be struggling with other issues like climate change, massive refugee movement, wars, etc.

Population and the resources it demands is the only reason climate change will be a problem. Any refugee movement and war related to climate change come back to resources and the demands populations place on them.

 

[Soapy Sam]

No people, no problems?