Human life from skin - Creation of sperm from skin.

Human Life from Skin - Creation of sperm from skin.

Laboratory created human sperm has been developed by British scientists at the Newcastle University, which could be used in IVF clinics within five years, as a potential cure for infertility. Thousands of infertile men may be able to father children, that are genetically their own, possibly from a sliver of skin, by utilising this break through in stem cell science.

The rearch by Professor Karim Nayernia utilises stem cells, which are blank cells and by using a combination of vitamins and chemicals, results in the formation of sperm from these human stem cells. They look like normal sperm and the reseacher states that they would be capable of fertilising eggs to create human life. In the research the stem cells were taken from embryos. The next step is to take skin cells from the arm of a man and transform it into sperm. This artificial sperm could then be injected into eggs using IVF techniques.

British law does not currently allow the use of lab grown sperm in fertility treatment. However, permission is being sought by the researchers to use some of the artificial sperm to fertilise eggs to further reseach. One in six couples are affected by causes of infertility and it is hoped that this reseach will enable them to start a family and may lead to the development of a pill by looking for problems in the production of male sperm.