A Lyon start-up claimed to have succeeded in producing human sperm in the laboratory. This world first could make it possible to treat male infertility.
The history of science is punctuated by first times and technical feats. Making sperm in the laboratory is surely one of them. This is now done thanks to the Lyon start-up Kallistem. This one announced, this week, that she had succeeded in reproducing in vitro spermatogenesis.
Researchers were able to manufacture these gametes using Artistem® cell therapy. From a testicular biopsy, frozen and then cultured for 72 days, scientists are able to produce complete and functional sperm in sufficient quantity to consider in vitro fertilization. This world first could therefore allow thousands of sterile men to conceive a child without having to resort to an anonymous donor.
72-day complex process
According to Kallistem, this method concerns “patients who have germinal stem cells but do not produce sperm”. She mentions in particular children treated with chemo or radiotherapy, treatments that can lead to infertility, children suffering from sickle cell anemia or having been operated on for bilateral cryptorchidism (the testcules have not descended into the bursaries) or men suffering from non-obstructive azoospermia. linked to somatic deficiency.
For the moment, the company refuses to communicate its results until it obtains its patent next June. The method will then have to be tested in animals and studies will have to demonstrate that these germ cells transmit the paternal genetic heritage without genetic abnormalities. The company is banking on 2017 for the first trials in men or in young boys whose fertility is threatened.
In ethical terms, the process does not seem to pose a problem since it is not a question of genetic modification or selection. However, as with all technological advances, the ethical and societal debate is open.
Source: Kallistem
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