LivingThey make sperm in the laboratory
Living

They make sperm in the laboratory

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esperma Researchers at the University of Yokohama (Japan) have succeeded in producing sperm in the laboratory from tissue from the testicles of mice . The breakthrough, which is featured in the journal Nature , opens the door to new treatments to combat male infertility.

The production of sperm ( spermatogenesis ) in mammals is a long and complex process, difficult to reproduce outside of nature. But Takehiko Ogawa and his colleagues have created a cultivation system that makes it possible. The scientists removed testicular tissue from the rodents between 7.5 and 10.5 days after birth. And in their cultivation they succeeded in turning the spermatogonia cells first into primary and secondary spermatocytes, and then, after a process of differentiation and maturation, into spermatozoa. And all in 42 days. The sperm thus obtained was used in an artificial in vitro fertilization of 58 eggs. The females to whom the embryos were transferred had healthy and fertile offspring (male and female) .

Additionally, Ogawa and his team have found that the procedure works even after freezing testicular tissue for weeks in liquid nitrogen.

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