Friday, March 29

How close are we to artificial rhino eggs? | Digital Trends Spanish


Fatu and Najin are the last two remaining northern white rhinos in the world. The problem is that both specimens are female, so they cannot reproduce. Thus, the extinction of this species seems imminent.

However, the international BioRescue consortium is working to prevent this from happening. The researchers are developing advanced assisted reproductive techniques and also want to use skin cells taken from the northern white rhino to create induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells in the laboratory that can develop into immature eggs, or oocytes.

In an article published in Scientific Reports, the team in charge of the investigation assured that it is getting closer to fulfilling its ambitious goal. “Our article sheds new light on pluripotency, the ability of stem cells to differentiate into all cells in the body. Therefore, it represents an important milestone on the way to artificially generated rhinoceros oocytes”, says Vera Zywitza, one of the authors.

These iPS cells in a petri dish can become any cell in the body, including the primordial germ cells that scientists intend to grow.

In this project, the researchers work with Katsuhiko Hayashi, a Japanese expert who in 2016 managed to generate eggs from the skin of mice, artificially fertilize these cells and implement them in females. The mice conceived by this method were born healthy and fertile, which is what scientists want to do with the specimens of northern white rhinos to prevent them from disappearing from the Earth.

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