Feb. 9, 2018 — U.K. researchers who created the first laboratory-grown human eggs say their achievement could lead to news ways to preserve the fertility of girls undergoing radiation or chemotherapy for cancer.
However, only 10 percent of the eggs reached full maturity and the eggs were not fertilized, so it’s unclear how viable they are, BBC News reported.
The University of Edinburgh research was published in the journal Molecular Human Reproduction.
“It’s very exciting to obtain proof of principle that it’s possible to reach this stage in human tissue,” Professor Evelyn Telfer, one of the researchers, told BBC.
“But that has to be tempered by the whole lot of work needed to improve the culture conditions and test the quality of the oocytes (eggs),” she added.
Even without considering any clinical use, “this is a big breakthrough in improving understanding of human egg development,” Telfer said.
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