Experiments hint at possibility of conceiving children with skin cells — not eggs

Successful new research on mice has scientists wondering if in the future, two men could potentially have a child together entirely without the genetic assistance of a woman. While up until this point scientists had assumed it necessary to fertilize an egg with sperm to conceive a baby, the new experiment has shown that it is in fact possible to conceive mice (and potentially human children) using other kinds of cells, such as possibly skin cells, The Independent reports.

"Our work challenges the dogma, held since early embryologists first observed mammalian eggs around 1827 and observed fertilization 50 years later, that only an egg cell fertilized with a sperm cell can result in live mammalian birth," lead scientist Tony Perry told The Independent.

The mouse experiment took "parthenogenote" embryos made by scientists and introduced them to sperm; the cells were changed into normal embryos, resulting in 30 mouse pups — an incredible 24 percent success rate compared to the 1 or 2 percent success from regular cloning. "That finding matters because parthenogenotes are similar to other ordinary cells, like skin cells. Both are mitotic, and if living offspring can be produced from one then it should be possible to create them from the other using the same technique," The Independent writes.

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The research could result in the ability for gay biological men to have children with each other, or a man to fertilize his own cells. The research could also help infertile women to have children and aid in the preservation of endangered species whose eggs are often difficult to collect. Many scientists still call these possibilities "speculative and fanciful," and it's true that there is still much research to be done — "but I think, if it is ever possible, one day in the distant future people will look back and say this is where it started," Perry said.