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Scientists Get Closer To Replicating Human Sperm (engadget.com)

Rachel England reports via Engadget: Scientists have taken an important step forward in recreating the way the human body makes sperm, which could one day mean creating artificial sperm and eggs for infertility treatment. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge's Gurdon Institute, are thought to be the first team to have reached the "halfway point" -- a significant milestone -- on the path between stem cells and immature sperm. This pathway -- which the team are attempting to track and understand -- involves embryonic cells turning into immature sperm via a series of complex steps known as meiosis. Cells follow the same journey for around eight weeks, before taking different directions depending on whether they're to be sperm or eggs. Previously, the team had managed to track this pathway to the four-week mark. Now, using new technology in the form of miniature artificial testicles (called "gonadal organoids"), it's on track to pass this point and gain new, deep insight into the process of sperm creation. Further reading: The Guardian

17 of 224 comments (clear)

  1. Re:My Great Big Nuclear Button by oldgraybeard · · Score: 2

    Men are in trouble if this succeeds. Feminists are not all welcoming, open, forgiving or tolerant ;) lol

  2. Re:Quick! Call the MRA brigade! by Baron_Yam · · Score: 3, Informative

    No. Men aren't all rape monsters as the worst feminist propaganda claims, but neither are all women man-haters.

    Just like men, women are social primates who require social connections with the sex to which they're attracted... and with 90% of the population being heterosexual, men aren't in any danger of being replaced by a lab and a Hitachi wand any time soon.

  3. Re:open a box of chocolates by hyades1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    It would all go terribly wrong when there were no more men, and women realized they had nobody to blame for their failures.

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
  4. Re:Men will become obsolete by erice · · Score: 2

    It's only a matter of time.
    Besides sperm, we serve no purpose.

    By that logic, women will serve no purpose either, given artificially created eggs (which the article suggests they are just as close to replicating as sperm) and an artificial womb, which is much further along.

  5. Re:open a box of chocolates by hyades1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's pretty obvious you haven't met my ex.

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
  6. If you would have bothered to read the article.. by zawarski · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...you would have seen it's only meant for drinking.

  7. Half-way Point by neoRUR · · Score: 2

    I thought someone by now would have posted a joke about only reaching the half-way point.

    1. Re:Half-way Point by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Funny

      Ok, here it goes:

      The North Korean committee to produce butter from shit has reached the halfway point. The taste is still off, but it already spreads pretty well.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  8. Re:Bringing coal to Newcastle by Tablizer · · Score: 2

    Of all the things humanity doesn't have a shortage of, spermatozoa have got to be right up near the top of the list

    Indeed. Males are basically ejaculation machines. If you want to "fix" something with technology that needs fixing, make hornier females.

  9. Re:open a box of chocolates by hey! · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well, for instance?

    Here's the thing: everything you've ever heard about feminists is true... of some feminist somewhere. It's also false. Just like everything you've ever heard about Trump voters is true ... of some Trump voter somewhere. It's also false.

    Some mens-rights advocates have, in response to the whole sexual harassment thing, pointed out that women sometimes sexually harass men too. They were roundly mocked by feminists, but it turns out those mens-rights types have a surprising ally in their point of view: other feminists. The jargon those feminists use might sound foreign (essentialism) but they're making exactly the same point: being a woman shouldn't automatically make you a victim and being a man shouldn't automatically make you a victimizer.

    That's because any large group of people (like "all men" or "all women") is bound to have people who aren't very much alike. That's even true of people who identify with some kind of ideological label like "conservative" or "environmentalist". If there's enough of them it's always easy to cherry pick viewpoints to suit your purpose.

    People across the political spectrum love them their stereotypes and straw men, because it makes it easy to feel like you're right all the time. But this violates the most basic principle of civilized behavior: the golden rule. That's not how you want your views to be treated.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  10. WHY? Did I miss something? by CFD339 · · Score: 2

    Is there suddenly a world wide shortage of human sperm? This seems the height of waste.

    --
    The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
  11. Re:Hey guys - game over! by DivineKnight · · Score: 2

    Hush. Let the genders think they have edged out each other for once. It's fun to watch.

  12. Re:huh? by Opportunist · · Score: 2

    If we have a nuclear war, it's more likely you find a functioning male than a functioning lab.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  13. *usually* a civilization destroying process ? by DrYak · · Score: 2

    Playing God with the procreation process is usually a civilization destroying process.

    What do you mean by "usually" ?
    You have a long list of civilisations all destroyed by the process of "Playing God" with the procreation process ?
    Like a dozen of such cases, to illustrate that indeed that's the most usual out-come ?

    The only instance of "Playing God with the procreation process" is the development of agriculture over the past couple of millennia (hybridizations, selections of weird nearly-impossible offsprings, agricultural crops being so much different from their nearest natural wild relative to be almost unrecognizable, polypoloidy being common in agricultural crops, etc.) and that has in fac turned out quite successful when you look at the evolution of what meal is in your plate.

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
  14. Re:My Great Big Nuclear Button by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 2

    So now what are the chicks going to do when there's a spider in the bathtub?

  15. Re:We are being replaced guys! by zifn4b · · Score: 2

    I knew it, I JUST knew it!

    Honestly, I'm all for it. The women who want to get pregnant in this way, go right ahead. No child support that way.

    --
    We'll make great pets
  16. Re: My Great Big Nuclear Button by naubol · · Score: 2

    Most of the women I know prefer the old fashioned way too. I'm not worried.

    youll be surprised how hard the door hits you on your way out when theres a more attractive alternative present

    I think you were responding to the more attractive alternative.

    --
    Reality is a slackware box running on a 386 tucked away in god's sock drawer.