Same‑Sex Mice Give Birth — Literally!
Scientists in a Chinese laboratory have turned a biological paddle wheel into a new kind of mouse maternity kit, producing living offspring from two female mice and, for a shorter while, from two male mice. It may sound like a sci‑fi plot, but it’s all real animal science, laced with a bit of humor and a dash of wonder.
How It Works
- Origin of the trick: The researchers edited stem cells to delete sections called “imprinting regions” – the genetic parts that normally get switched off depending on whether they come from mom or dad.
- Female‑to‑female breeding: They removed three of these regions from the stem cells and poured them into the eggs of other female mice. The result? 29 babies from 210 embryos that grew up healthy, had kids of their own, and kept the litter’s chain going.
- Male‑to‑male attempt: Seven imprinting regions were erased, the cells were injected into a primed egg that also received sperm from another male mouse. The eggs were carried by surrogate moms. Unfortunately, those pups pic‑ked a 48‑hour lease on life.
Why The Result Was Different
Every mammal normally inherits a copy of each gene from both parents. But a tiny twig of genes – the imprinted ones – purposely get silenced from the other parent. The team’s trick mimicked that silencing, but with a twist: two girls as parents gave a balanced copy of every gene, while two boys as parents left a mismatch that the embryo couldn’t fix.
What This Means for the Future
While the current experiment is still mostly a laboratory curiosity, it sparks the imagination of future cloning upgrades and, who knows, maybe fertility fixes for same‑sex couples. The science still needs serious polishing to get the male‑to‑male transfer to survive past infancy.
Ethics or Reality?
Every time a genome gets tweaked, the fine line between “cool science” and “dangerous tinkering” bends a little. Studies like this prompt big questions about whether we should try to engineer humans in a similar way. The excitement is real, but the caution must be too.
In Summary
- Same‑sex mouse babies exist — at least for the time being.
- Female‑female pairs beat male‑male pairs in the survival race.
- The experiment taps into deep questions about why mammals need a male and a female, and how far we can push the boundaries of biology.
- Future work will reveal if a new cloning or fertility protocol can be shelved for less‑controversial species.
