Scientists have successfully brought bi-paternal mice to adulthood using advanced CRISPR techniques to correct imprinting-related gene dysfunction, which was previously a barrier in same-sex reproduction. This breakthrough follows earlier attempts that resulted in unhealthy mice, and addresses critical genetic challenges faced in bi-paternal and bi-maternal embryo creation. Though not applicable to humans just yet, researchers see potential for extending these findings to primate studies, which may eventually lead to advancements in reproductive options for same-sex couples and insights into developmental disease prevention.
The unique characteristics of imprinting genes have led scientists to believe that they are a fundamental barrier to unisexual reproduction in mammals.
Even when constructing bi-maternal or bi-paternal embryos artificially, they fail to develop properly, and they stall at some point during development due to these genes.
It's not a direct road to helping human same-sex parents conceive children, but the authors believe it will carry over to monkeys, which they hope to experiment on next.
This novel approach provides insights into preventing developmental diseases in humans, addressing previous failures in creating viable bi-paternal adult mice.
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