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MyHealthNewsDaily
Researchers in California hope to become the first in the world to build an artificial testicle that produces human sperm. Such a device could allow infertile men to conceive children.
While recent studies have shown it's possible to treat infertile male mice by producing sperm using stem cells from the mouse, the same has not been done for humans, said researcher Dr. Paul Turek, director of the Turek Clinic, a men's health medical practice in San Francisco.
Using a newly received government grant, Turek and his fellow researchers hope to develop a human "sperm-making biological machine," he said.
Unlike a non-sperm-producing prosthesis – a saline-filled implant for men missing a testicle – the device will not be designed to resemble a testicle. Instead it will most closely resemble a cylindrical bag a few inches long, Turek said, creating a final product that looks something like a transparent, over-sized Tootsie Roll.
Recreating the testicle
Others have tried to grow sperm from cells in lab dishes, but the cells wouldn't go through all the necessary steps, Turek said. Normally cells in the testicle go through about 12 stages on their way to becoming functioning sperm, but in a dish they stop at stage 9 or 10 – only within the highly specialized environment of the testicle can they complete the process.
Turek said he and his colleagues want to "re-create the testicle in an artificial environment, with all of its components."
To make their artificial testicle, the researchers will first focus on growing cells that normally nurture sperm during their development, including cells called Sertoli cells. Then the researchers will add embryonic stem cells, which can turn into virtually any cell in the human body. These stem cells will be "fortified" with genes to steer them down the right path, so that the stem cells develop the properties of sperm precursor cells, Turek told MyHealthNewsDaily.
In essence, the researchers are hoping re-create the environment within the seminiferous tubules, the structures in the testes where sperm are formed.
The artificial testicle would likely last only as long as it takes to go through one cycle of sperm production, about 70 days, Turek said. After that, another one would have to be created.
Ambitious project
"It's an ambitious project," said Kyle Orwig, an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh who studies ways to restore male fertility."But it would be fantastic if it happened. It would be a major impact on the fertility field."
No one has yet tried to create sperm by re-creating the "home" of sperm cell production and adding stem cells, Orwig said.
It eventually might be possible to use the model to produce sperm for men who are infertile.
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To do this, the researchers probably would use adult stem cells from the patient rather than embryonic stem cells. Such cells could be taken from the patient's skin, and researchers would have to "turn back the clock" so the cells could develop into sperm. But whether this could work remains to be seen, Turek said.
Turek and his colleague Dr. Constance John, chief executive of MandalMed Inc., a biotech company in San Francisco, received a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Such grants are typically less than $500,000, Turek said.
Turek hopes to complete the artificial testicle in five to seven years.
Pass it on: Researchers are starting a project to create an artificial human testicle that can produce sperm.
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Leave a Comment:
You know....just leave it alone! If you're not meant to reproduce just accept it! And who knows what kind of "humans" this synthetic sperm would produce?
Why "leave it alone"? Our future is going to include genetically modified people, regardless. I personally feel that you should just adopt if you are infertile, but arguing against it because it's "unnatural" is being a bit naive.
Just to clarify, I fully support any genetic manipulation in humans to be done with the utmost care and caution, but I also see it as innevitable (and good for our species). I also realize that this synthetic sperm will generate non-modified people.
Chemack56-2587500 - If you were anywhere near the area of right, Susan Smith and the rest like her wouldn't have had kids or those kids would still be alive today.
The human population of Earth is already far too high.
Further, the number of children needing adoption is also already far too high.
So, my question is: why are we doing this?
This will have almost zero impact upon the total population of the earth. I too would like to see the world stabilize at about 4 billion people. The issue however, is not here, it is that uneducated and dreadfully poor people in developing countries are breeding like rabbits.
A few more people having kids thanks to sperm in a tube isn't going to cause the world population to change significantly. I personally give my blessing to anybody going through the trouble a person would go through to get this done. It at the very least suggests the person wants kids, is willing to take care of their child, and might actually do a decent job at it since they know how precious their child would be.
So much for "iron balls McCallahan" jokes! ;->
the device will not be designed to resemble a testicle. Instead it will most closely resemble a cylindrical bag a few inches long, Turek said, creating a final product that looks something like a transparent, over-sized Tootsie Roll.
Mr. Turtle, how many licks does it take? I've never made it without biting, ask Mr. Owl.
That sounds HOT!
Using embryonic stems cells is MURDER!
Exodus 20:13
Genesis 9:6
tossing them in the trash after harvesting them is?????
Am I committing genocide every time I wear a condom? Millions of lives are stopped by a thin layer of latex.
Is a woman who has eggs harvested so she can have a baby a murderer if not all the eggs are used to create a child?
Should a woman who miscarried be charged with murder?
Besides, if you were to take a few cells from a blastula, the blastula could still develop into a normal child. Want proof, look at identical twins. their blastula split in half and neither died because of it. So embryonic stem cells (no s at the end of stem) is not necessarily murder.
But I do agree from the moment of conception it is life, and that life is human. When does it have rights, I don't know. But before it is even implanted in somebody, there is no way it is considered viable. It can just as easily be considered biological waste aka trash.
Give the testicle to the women!!!
Hey Bono, here's an option for you!
Am I the only one that is disturbed by this?
With the population skyrocketing, why is this so important, and WHY are they treating men, when millions of women suffer from uterine problems? Why aren't they transplanting uteruses!
So first you say that the population is skyrocketing and question why this is necessary. Then you complain about women's fertility issues not being addressed. Are you sexist or just not thinking?
Such a device could allow infertile men to conceive children.
Really? I have never seen a fertile man conceive a child. I think it will take more than a Tootsie Roll sack to get a man pregnant!