END OF BIOLOGICAL MOTHERS

END OF BIOLOGICAL MOTHERS?

 

THE traditional methodology of creating offspring has recently been challenged by scientists at the University of Bath n the UK who have demonstrated that the cellular components of a mother are not strictly required to create a biological offspring. Yes, you read it correct. In theory at least and partly in practice, it is possible to create a living mammal, out of a ‘sole parent’

          This idea of reproduction has indeed been tried out on mice and not one, but three generations of healthy mice have been produced. The scientists involved in the study inform that they have achieved a success rate of about 24% in their initial experiments.

          The sperm and the egg cell, technically referred to as the male and the female gametes, are special types of cells containing only half the number of the total chromosome required for the formation of a complete cell. As the male and female gametes come together they fuse to become a single cell – the zygote which then goes on to become the embryo and subsequently the fetus and finally the child is formed.

          The haploid sperm and egg cell (oocyte) are endowed with special properties, by virtue of which they help each other reprogram and form the embryo. This happens by release and activation of certain calcium and phosphorous dependent mechanism, which help the sperms trigger the process of embryogenesis. The most intriguing finding about this new discovery is that it challenges the absolute need of oocyte for the development of the embryo.

          During fertilization, the protein of the sperm cell nucleus undergoes certain chemical modifications, being replaced with the molecular products of the oocyte of the maternal origin. Subsequently, the chromosomes of both the sperms and the oocyte undergo modification. All this is made possible only after the fusion of the sperm with the egg. No other cell was ever seen as capable as the oocyte cells to induce these changes. Thus, this step was always thought to be the key step I beginning a new life.

          The haploid nature of both the sperm and the egg was the most significant requirement of this method of fertilization. The interesting new twist is that, now it has been demonstrated that the sperm cell can indeed be modified to effect those changes which lead to the development of the new life. The Sperm has been modified so that it can induce the biochemical changes n a cell of choice, not necessarily the oocyte, which leads to production of a child. The researchers at the University of Bath have demonstrated that this possibility can be explored to produce offspring by dividing yet unfertilized eggs. They have succeeded in inducing unfertilised degas to act as fertilized ones, multiplying up to the next stage and forming and embryo.