THE DISCOVER
For the first time in medical history, scientists have successfully grown mouse sperm in a laboratory. As Northwestern University cell biologist Erwin Goldberg told New Scientist, “People have been trying to do this for years.” It’s hoped that being able to grow sperm outside the testes will lead to improved fertility treatments for men.
How the Heck:
* The concept is simple: Combine the right dosage of chemicals that will provide nourishment to testes in a petri dish. Actually finding the magic amount is a tedious process of trial and error.
* First, the team genetically engineered mice “so that a protein only present in fully grown sperm would fluoresce green.”
* Next, the scientists extracted germ cells (which produce sperm) from the newborn mice testes, and put them in a bath of agarose gel, fetal bovine serum, testosterone, and other chemicals.
* After about a month, they discovered that virtually half of the lab-grown sperm were glowing, indicating that they were fully grown.
* They then used in vitro fertilization to impregnate female mice, who eventually gave birth to fertile mice themselves.
The Discover for more