Female only reproduction

[Kaneda]

This is AdobeReader:
http://news.softpedia.com/newsPDF/Soon-Female-Only-Reproduction-Sperm-From-Women-52489.pdf

After scientists managed to produce predecessors of sperm cells from male bone marrow
tissue, they are seeking for a possibility to produce sperm cells from a woman's bone
marrow tissue.
The previous research was aimed at restoring fertility to men, enabling them to produce
fertile sperm. “But the results also raise the prospect of taking bone-marrow tissue from
women and coaxing the stem cells within the female tissue to develop into sperm cells,”
said Professor Karim Nayernia of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
In this case, the lesbian couples would have only daughters as women lack the Y
chromosome found in half of the male sperm cells that induce the male sex in embryos.
"Theoretically it is possible. The problem is whether the sperm cells are functional or not. I
don't think there is an ethical barrier so long as it's safe. We are in the process of applying
for ethical approval. We are preparing now to apply to use the existing bone marrow stem
cell bank here in Newcastle", Nayernia said.
If this proves viable, sperm cells from female bone tissue will be grown in the lab and their
ability to penetrate into a hamster's egg (a standard fertility test for sperm) could be easy to
check. “But there is no intention at this stage to produce female sperm that would be used
to fertilize a human egg, which would require the approval of the Human Fertilization and
Embryology Authority,” said Nayernia.

I heard about this a few months ago, probably around the time this article came out, and it blew my mind. I forgot about it though and just remembered again. Figured it would spure alot of conversation and no one has said anything about it here yet. :eek: :eek: :eek:

[HandOfHeaven]

Yikes. Female sperm.

[Vault Dweller]

That's kind of scary. I'm envisioning the enslavement/extinction of our sex.

That's it, I'm buying a gun.

[Vollstrecker]

That's kind of scary. I'm envisioning the enslavement/extinction of our sex.

That's it, I'm buying a gun.

I'm pretty sure the opposite effect could be true as well, as far as coaxing stem-cell development, we could discover how to make them evolve into eggs and having them develop in vitro.

What's funny is that we'd still all but die out because most guys are so homophobic that they'd refuse something like this.

I predict this becoming a "that's damn interesting" bit of information and no major societal changes. :p

[Willkillforfood]

Lesbian doctors get dangerously close to their goal ...

[Kaneda]

I don't follow Volls, men can't host a child. What does being homophobic have to do with it.

[Vollstrecker]

I don't follow Volls, men can't host a child. What does being homophobic have to do with it.

The homophobic part would be the thought of their child utilizing half of another man's DNA, I would imagine. It's a bit odd to think about personally, and I try to keep a somewhat level mind.

[Kaneda]

OMG! I just realized we could be asexual!

[-Spector-]

Told you it was possible.

[Willkillforfood]

Sure since being asexual would be so great

[Kaneda]

I didn't say it would be great. But who the hell would have though that humans could do that 50, or even 10 years ago. It would basically be cloning though right? Or extremely "incestual."

[WetWired]

It wouldn't be cloning, since you're not making copies, you're combining random sets of genes from the same source.

Ignoring the effects of radiation, though, given enough single-offspring generations, I'd guess you'd eventually get to a state where all sets have the same genes; everytime the same gene appears in both sets, the other gene would be lost.