Scientists in the United States have, for the first time, created early-stage human embryos using DNA from skin cells—a breakthrough that could transform fertility treatment in the future.
Gatekeepers News reports that the research, published in Nature Communications, reported the successful creation of 82 functional eggs. The study was led by scientists at the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), who developed a technique that uses skin cell nuclei to generate eggs capable of fertilisation.
The process involves extracting the nucleus—the part of the cell that contains the complete genetic blueprint—from a skin cell and inserting it into a donor egg that has had its own genetic material removed. Since the reconstituted egg initially contains a full set of chromosomes (46), researchers triggered a process they dubbed “mitomeiosis”—a blend of mitosis and meiosis—to eliminate half, leaving 23 chromosomes and making the egg viable for fertilisation.
The fertilised eggs developed into early-stage embryos, though none survived beyond six days.
Shoukhrat Mitalipov, director of OHSU’s Center for Embryonic Cell and Gen
