February 4, 2004

Interesting news on the genetic front:

From the BBC News bq. Mice produce sperm from monkeys Mice have been used to produce viable monkey sperm using tissue transplanted from the testes of macaques. bq. The US scientists involved say their work might one day help to conserve animals that are facing extinction. bq. It might also be possible to grow human sperm in mice, although the team agree this would be a controversial move. bq. The researchers, from the universities of Pennsylvania and California, report their studies in the latest issue of the journal Biology of Reproduction. This will be a hot-potato topic... This is not genetic manipulation (such as the transgenic goats who produce spider-silk proteins in their milk), this is simply the transplant of some tissue into a host animal. There are some wonderful ramifications for fertility treatments though. Posted by DaveH at February 4, 2004 10:37 AM