Fertility ‘breakthrough’ as human eggs grown in lab

Human eggs have been grown to maturity outside the body in a breakthrough that ultimately could help preserve the fertility of girls undergoing cancer treatment, or offer an alternative to IVF.

A team at the University of Edinburgh, working with New York scientists, developed fully grown human eggs in a laboratory using small immature egg cells removed from ovary tissue, according to a report in the journal Molecular Human Reproduction. Nine mature eggs were grown from a total of 48 that were cultured.

The research is in an early stage, The Times says, noting that ”there are some abnormalities in the eggs. Because they cannot be fertilised without a licence, it is not possible to tell how significant these defects are.”

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The pioneering technique could theoretically offer new hope for women, old and young, suffering from infertility. The advancement could “lead to new ways of preserving the fertility of children having cancer treatment”, says the BBC.

Why is this breakthrough significant?

Egg cell maturation is the process in which human egg cells develop to a stage where they can be fertilised. This normally takes place in an ovary, but this latest breakthrough marks “the first time human eggs have been developed outside the human body from their earliest stage to full maturity”, Reuters says.

“Because these cells are so sensitive to their environment, there have been many failed attempts in 30 years of trying,” The Independent adds.

What next?

“If we can show these eggs are normal and can form embryos then there are many applications for future treatments,” says University of Edinburgh Professor Evelyn Telfer.

The research could “transform the ease with which women can undergo IVF by simply requiring a small tissue biopsy rather than traumatic rounds of hormone-triggered ovulation”, The Daily Telegraph says. “It also promises to preserve the fertility of women undergoing aggressive cancer treatment.”

Telfer says it may also be theoretically possible to allow menopausal women to have children. “The honest answer is we really don’t know at this stage,” she adds.

Is there a downside?

Stuart Lavery, a consultant gynaecologist at Hammersmith Hospital, told the BBC that the research “represents a genuine step forward in our understanding… this preliminary work offers hope for patients”.

But many scientists claim it could be “years” before the techniques are safe and widely available, Sky News writes.

Professor Simon Fishel of the Care Fertility Group says that “what looks normal may not indeed be what we call ‘developmentally competent’, or indeed healthy”.

Robin Lovell-Badge, of The Francis Crick Institute, also casts doubt on the technique used, saying it was “quite inefficient”, with “only nine out of dozens of early-stage cells becoming mature eggs”.