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Human Sperm Produced In the Laboratory

Posted by timothy on from the that's-not-starting-from-scratch dept.

duh P3rf3ss3r writes "The BBC is carrying a report from a team of researchers at Newcastle University who claim to have developed a the first 'artificial' human sperm from stem cells. The research, reported in the journal Stem Cells and Development, involved selecting meristematic germ cells from a human embryonic stem cell culture and inducing meiosis, thus producing a haploid gamete. The authors claim that the resulting sperm are fully formed, mature, human sperm cells but the announcement has been greeted with mixed reaction from colleagues who claim the procedure is ethically questionable and that the gametes produced are of inferior levels of maturation."

16 of 368 comments (clear)

  1. I SWEAR by Phizzle · · Score: 4, Funny

    I DIDNT DO IT!

    --
    I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
    1. Re:I SWEAR by MyLongNickName · · Score: 4, Funny

      I DIDNT DO IT!

      This is Slashdot. That goes without saying.

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      See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
  2. So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    What's the big deal? I generate human sperm at least once a day and I don't even need a laboratory.

    1. Re:So what? by LordKaT · · Score: 4, Funny

      I have a lab and he *HATES* it when I try to generate sperm.

    2. Re:So what? by interkin3tic · · Score: 4, Funny

      Wow. Incest++. That's a term that I had hoped would never be invented.

  3. Misread by StDoodle · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is it any surprise that, with such an article, I had to do a double-take to properly read "...inferior levels of maturation."

  4. It's about time... by Tenek · · Score: 5, Funny

    Finally, this will address the critical shortage of sperm we face today.

  5. This story is just too hard to swallow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I couldn't resist.

  6. Re:Wow science is amazing by Manfre · · Score: 4, Funny

    One step closer to not having hormonally imbalanced pregnant women...

    My wife and I really wish the human reproductive cycle involved external incubation. I'd create a device to post to twitter whenever the baby kicks.
     

  7. What's the problem? by Anonymusing · · Score: 4, Funny

    "the procedure is ethically questionable and that the gametes produced are of inferior levels of maturation"

    So... they're suitable for producing politicians, lawyers, and bad Slashdot comments?

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  8. Ok, let me be the first to say this... by RelliK · · Score: 4, Funny

    Every sperm is sacred.

    --
    ___
    If you think big enough, you'll never have to do it.
  9. Re:Well... by schon · · Score: 4, Funny

    A man and a woman get into an elevator and press the button for the top floor. Halfway up, the elevator stops. The man picks up the emergency phone, and is told that they'll be stuck for at least an hour.

    The woman looks at him slyly and says "want to make me feel like a woman?"

    "Sure", the man says, immediately taking off his shirt.

    "Iron this for me!"

  10. Re:Mandatory... by Nadaka · · Score: 4, Funny

    speak for yourself, I don't mind if I she swallows.

  11. Re:Well... by mangu · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think we're safe for a while, until they manage to train the apes properly.

    What do you mean? I think we are pretty well trained right now!

  12. One upped by psychicninja · · Score: 5, Funny
    Man, this kind of beats the story I was just about to submit:

    Human Sperm Produced In The Lavatory

  13. Huge waste of tax dollars by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    We give these scientists grant money to build labs to work on scientific discoveries. And they turn around and spend all day masturbating in the labs!