Quest to create viable human sex cells in lab progressing rapidly, with huge implications for reproduction
Scientists are just a few years from creating viable human sex cells in the lab, according to an internationally renowned pioneer of the field, who says the advance could open up biology-defying possibilities for reproduction.
Speaking to the Guardian, Prof Katsuhiko Hayashi, a developmental geneticist at the University of Osaka, said rapid progress is being made towards being able to transform adult skin or blood cells into eggs and sperm, a feat of genetic conjury known as in-vitro gametogenesis (IVG).
His own lab is about seven years away from the milestone, he predicts. Other frontrunners include a team at the University of Kyoto and a California-based startup, Conception Biosciences, whose Silicon Valley backers include the OpenAI founder, Sam Altman and whose CEO told the Guardian that growing eggs in the lab “might be the best tool we have to reverse population decline” and could pave the way for human gene editing.
I first read that as ‘spam and eggs’ and thought … who the hell wants lab-grown spam?
Production of humans without ties to historical family lines, would they have a number for a surname?
Welcome to the brave new world order
And, in effect, eighty-three almost noseless black brachycephalic Deltas were cold-pressing. The fifty-six four-spindle chucking and turning machines were being manipulated by fifty-six aquiline and ginger Gammas. One hundred and seven heat-conditioned Epsilon Senegalese were working in the foundry. Thirty-three Delta females, long-headed, sandy, with narrow pelvises, and all within 20 millimetres of 1 metre 69 centimetres tall, were cutting screws. In the assembling room, the dynamos were being put together by two sets of Gamma-Plus dwarfs. The two low work-tables faced one another; between them crawled the conveyor with its load of separate parts; forty-seven blonde heads were confronted by forty-seven brown ones. Forty-seven snubs by forty-seven hooks; forty-seven receding by forty-seven prognathous chins. The completed mechanisms were inspected by eighteen identical curly auburn girls in Gamma green, packed in crates by thirty-four short-legged, left-handed male Delta-Minuses, and loaded into waiting trucks and lorries by sixty-three blue-eyed, flaxen and freckled Epsilon Semi-Morons.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokanovsky's_Process_(Brave_New_World)
Funnily enough I think I read that novel like twenty years ago
I still say it is/was much more prescient than 1984.
Aha. So that’s why they don’t care if everyone but the billionaires die.
I’ll never understand people who complain about population decline. It’s a good thing. There are too many people here already. My thought on reading the headline was that it could be used in a different way. Everyone could be voluntarily sterilized, and then when they are ready and willing to have a kid they could use this new method to produce sex cells. No more unwanted pregnancies.
That’s the actual setup of ergo proxy…not that they are volountarily sterilised. The whole point us the artifucial womb. I don’t know if you watched it but if you haven’t, do it.
Population decline is not a problem for humanity. It is a problem for capitalism.
Depopulation is a problem for any economic system. You can’t run any form of government or economy when young workers aren’t contributing to the tax base and the aging population requires more and more care.
Sure as clockwork someone will come along and say tax the rich. That only works for so long in this scenario. The rich get rich off our backs. No backs, no rich.
Not true lol
What a succinct, compelling argument!
Alright, ill do a mostly complete argument. Define depopulation please :3
Even worse they’re probably looking at the projection and seeing a loss of revenue directly related to population rates. They want more sheep to feed their money making systems.
Well of course
Yes, that sounds like a wonderful idea. Let’s put the reproductive future of the species under commercial and/or governmental control.
Both of those things are demonstrably trustworthy, especially in the last decade.
We should cede all control to them. Indeed.
(/s)
Are you a young naive tech bro, or a Nazi Eugenicist? Is there a difference anymore? Have you even thought about what you are saying? That’s an insane take.
Um I never said anything about giving control to anyone… in fact I specifically said “voluntarily”… you seem like an angry person who is looking for things to be mad about. I’m not sure how you jumped to calling me a nazi.
I have thought about what I’m saying, have you? Unwanted pregnancies are something that by definition nobody wants. All I said was that this could be a way to address that, and you took that simple idea and ran to crazy town with it.
Because the population decline is mostly a western societal phenomenon induced by the late stage capitalism we are suffering from, and our planet dying from our carelessness. Other countries, especially poorer ones, are still happily making babies. So “population decline” effectively means the decline of western populations, and I can see how people (including me) might have an issue with that.
If all populations would shrink proportionally the same it would be a lot less contentious.
Lol go fuck yourself. You actual shitbag. There is one population on earth we should track: humans. Who fucking cares who they live today, losers like you I guess.
Ah yes I must be racist because I don’t think we should be replaced. How does that help the planet?
Ah yes great I feel at ease now, knowing Sam Altman gives the thumbs up to this
That little voice telling me this is a very sharp double edged sword probably doesn’t know shit
I read five lines into the news and thought “oh well shoot, now billionaires are going to try reverse the population decline due to the shitty world they created so that they can continue to generate labour and revenue and make the rest of us fight for resources in an over crowded world”. And what do you know Sam Altman was the first shit face to confirm my speculations.
I’m a bit dull to predict the future. But I can see we already have “ownership” of GMOs available for companies. The “Dire Wolves” that got resurrected that you don’t hear about anymore belong to a company. We got plenty of examples of companies marketing something as positive, such as Monsanto saying they actually feed the planet and whatnot. Companies that start open source suddenly turning for profit. And unscrupulous governments and corruption.
And now you have unlocked the possibility of creating fully customized humans in a lab.
What could go wrong?
Don’t get me wrong I totally see how the technology can also be used for good. That’s what OpenAI says about their product, too.
There are so many double-edged swords lying around these days I feel like it’ll be death by a thousand cuts from double-edged swords.
Blade Runner and 40k have entered the chat.
And Starwars
They are going after Hitler wet dream to create super human.
babies they can sell into slavery.
Isnt this just cloning? Like if they grew sperm cells and eggs from my dandruff and combined them
No, it is something different. Cloning creates a another being with the exact same DNA. This would allow people, who can’t produce viable sperm/egg cells, to reproduce with their partner. First patients would be infertile men and women.
Would a sperm/egg combo from the same person not be a clone?
The sperm and the egg would contain different copies of the chromosomes. The cell randomly divides its chromosomes when it becomes an egg or sperm. When they merge, two halves of a genome form a full one again. But some chromosomes would be there as doubles, others would be lost. The effect would be the same as incest. Mutations that would be hidden in a healthy cell would emerge.
I’m going to be the first to eat a Homan omelette.
You are a true believer. Blessings of the state, blessings of the masses. Thou art a subject of the divine. Created in the image of man, by the masses, for the masses. Let us be thankful we have an occupation to fill. Work hard; increase production, prevent accidents, and be happy.
