what will be effect on society of US scientists create mice from two fathers?

[karyn]

from yahoo

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US scientists have used stem cell technology to create mice from two fathers, an advance that they say could help preserve endangered species and even help same-sex couples have their own genetic children one day.

According to the study published Wednesday in the journal Biology of Reproduction, reproductive scientists in Texas were able to manipulate cells from a male (XY) mouse fetus to produce an induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell line.

These iPS cells are adult cells that have undergone some genetic reprogramming in order to enter an embryonic stem cell-like state.

Some of the cells that were grown from this new line spontaneously lost their Y chromosome, turning them into XO cells.

Those XO cells were injected into embryos from donor female mice and transplanted into surrogate mouse moms who gave birth to babies with one X chromosome from the original male mouse.

Those babies grew and later mated with normal male mice. Their offspring, both male and female, showed genetic contributions from two fathers.

The study was led by Richard R. Berhringer at the MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Researchers said that with a variation of their technique, "it may also be possible to generate sperm from a female donor and produce viable male and female progeny with two mothers."

However, the study cautioned that the ability to replicate the findings in humans was a long way off.

The "generation of human iPS cells still requires significant refinements prior to their use for therapeutic purposes," the study said.

Previous research has found ways to create mice without any fathers at all, as well as ways to create mice with two mothers.

[Raza]

So they create a female clone of a male mouse, then mate that with another male mouse. All in all requiring three mice and a throwaway token generation.

I don't see that immediately helping endangered species or homosexual would-be-parents, but it's pretty neat I guess.

I wonder what the difference would be between an XX female and an XO female. And whether they couldn't have injected just a female mouse's egg cell before mating it, to skip the clone generation

[Mr Karl]

I guess it's good to have a hobby that you can get a research grant for........

[EmpressAliceOfDrac]

that's just freaky..and kinda cool.

[TheDeathKnight]

In the long run, it would be as simple as transplanting the DNA of one person
into someone else's egg or sperm. Right now that's not easily done.
But right now, they can already fertilize eggs with sperm in a test tube,
and then transfer the embryo into a surrogate mother, that has no
genetic relation to the baby she is carrying.

It's all about combining DNA.

Eventually we will be able to pick and choose what parts of our DNA we
want to pass on, and what parts we want to use from our partner, or even
splice together DNA from several different donors. So you could have
a totally custom baby, with features and attributes from a lot of different
people.

The big question with something like that, is if people will all want the exact
same things, or if people will be creative with their wishes for their offspring.
Will everyone be Barbie and Ken dolls? Perfect supermodels? And if so,
won't that become boring? Plus, if we all have the same biology,
we might be more vulnerable to disease, etc. Or the alternative,
is that we will be so much more diverse, that we will be even more
resistant to environmental influences.

Personally, I think it offers a lot of really cool possibilities.

And of course, the influence it might have on sexuality and mating.
Where someone might no longer need to find a suitable partner in order to reproduce.
You could get the best genetic material at the doctor's office.
Would that change how people look at sex and dating?
Marriage and children?

[Mr Karl]

brave new world

[Raza]

Beats the cowardly current one.

[Mr Karl]

your'e joking, right?

..............well, maybe you haven't read it