Wednesday, September 14, 2016

“Speculative and fanciful”, but haven’t ruled it out

The shocking new study overthrows the idea that it is only possible to produce children using an egg, and fertilising it with sperm. Instead, the research suggests that it might be possible to conceive children using skin cells.

In a new experiment on mice, scientists appear to have shown that it would be possible to conceive of mice using other kinds of cells. The study showed that it was possible to produce healthy offspring while bypassing the normal route of fertilising an egg with sperm.

“The practical applications of this as the technology stands at the moment are not very broad,” Dr Perry said at a press conference.

“What we’re saying is that these embryos are mitotic cells – mitotic cells are the type of cell that almost every dividing cell in your body is. And therefore potentially one day we might be able to extend what we’ve shown in these mitotic cells to other mitotic cells.

“Will we be able to do that? I don’t know. But I think, if it is ever possible, one day in the distant future people will look back and say this is where it started.”
Could we envision a day when women will be fighting for the right to reproduce?

4 comments:

edutcher said...

Some people have too much time on their hands.

I'm Full of Soup said...

So I guess a Tranny could now be both mother and father?

Synova said...

Not likely much different from cloning in that it first requires a fertilized egg which has the nucleus removed and the new genetic material inserted.

I've no problem at all, really, with clones or with two women or two men or a host of various people or even, you know, a chimera being created EXCEPT when it requires the creation of a new life, even just a *conception* and then death of that genetic combination in order to get a warm and happy egg for the new person to grow within.

Making a new growing embryo is only possible by treating the product as a lab material, and what is created from it after keeping the part you needed, as more lab material, etc., etc., toss the extras and discards, and then somehow have a point at which it magically becomes human reproduction?

I've read too much science fiction to be horrified by the idea of what we might someday be able to do, and read far too much science fiction to believe that we could ever navigate defining *this* set of living human cells as disposable lab materials and *that* set of living human cells as important without heading down some very dark roads.

Rabel said...

So, if we can make babies from two men (forget the gay part, it's a diversion), or one man alone, then what do we need women for? Non-reproductive sexual pleasure? Nope. By the time this technology matures the fembots (all tens, or nines for the budget conscious) will be sufficiently advanced as to eliminate the need for human partners. Nurturing the children and bring the feminine touch to our society? Nope. That's what the gays are for. Sammiches? Nope. Automation will take care of that. I'm at a loss as to any other necessities.

You've had a nice run, girls but you can't stop progress. Sayonara, Synova.