Caught on TODAY 14 APRIL

Men to become redundant? Scientists grow human sperm from bone marrow
LONDON — Scientist have been able to
grow immature human sperm cells from
bone marrow.
If these can be grown into fully developed
sperm, which the researchers hope
to do within five years, it could benefit
thousands of men, including cancer patients
left sterile by chemotherapy.
But the technique provoked an ethical
storm and could soon be jettisoned over
concerns about the safety of using artificial
sperm.
Critics said the treatment threatened
to breach moral boundaries as it would
effectively lead to men being made
redundant as far as reproduction is concerned.
The technique, which could be adapted
to help female infertility by growing
eggs in a lab, would raise the prospect of
children being born through entirely artificial
means.
If the technology were abused, men
could be completely sidelined.
Professor Karim Nayernia, of Newcastle
University’s North-East England
Stem Cell Institute, says that his work centres
around stem cells — blank cells which
have the power to turn into other cell types,
creating a “repair kit” for the body.
Removed from the human bone marrow,
they were grown in a lab and then
coaxed into turning into the cells which
produce sperm.
Prof Nayernia has already shown that
fully-functioning sperm can be created in a
lab from stem cells drawn from mouse embryos.
The artificial sperm fertilised eggs and
seven baby mice were born.
The latest research avoids the ethical
problems associated with embryonic stem
cells by using cells taken from the bone marrow.
Using a patient’s own cells also removes
the possibility of lab-grown material
being rejected by the body.
So far Prof Nayernia, a professor of
stem cell biology, has only created spermatagonial
stem cells — the cells that produce
sperm in the testes — from human
bone marrow.
However, adding other cells, called sertoli
cells, which nurse and nourish those
sperm-producing cells, could overcome this
problem. — AGENCIES

Just when we think the role of man is getting no more than just a sperm donor, surprisingly our redundancy will be no more than 1-2 decades away. I wonder if this is God's will or sweet retribution. Guess I learn how to do women's chore is a good choice afterall! lolx

SLAVERY IS ONLY ONE SPERM COUNT AWAY~!!!