Scientists at the University of Bath say they have discovered a way to create offspring without the need for a female egg and have already produced several generations of mice from this procedure.

The Telegraph is reporting on the experiment which scientists consider to be “landmark” because it “rewrites 200 years of biology” and paves the way for a variety of techniques to produce children that don’t necessarily involve a man and a woman.

As Sarah Knapton, Science Editor at the Telegraph explains, it has always been thought that only a female egg can spark the changes in a sperm required to make a baby, because an egg forms from a special kind of cell division in which just half the number of chromosomes are carried over.

“Sperm cells form in the same way, so that when a sperm and egg meet they form a full genetic quota, with half our DNA coming from our mother and half from our father,” Knapton explains.

“But now scientists have shown embryos could be created from cells which carry all their chromosomes which means that, in theory, any cell in the human body could be fertilized by a sperm.”

Three generations of mice have already been produced by the technique and the pups have proven to be healthy enough to reproduce on their own.

As a result, scientists are now planning to test out the theory by using skin cells instead of an egg to produce an embryo.

“Although the researchers began with an egg cell for the experiment, they do not believe it is required to spark the same development. In theory, the technique should work with any cell in the body as long as half the chromosomes are removed first to allow them to fuse with the sperm’s chromosomes,” Knapton writes.

Dr Tony Perry, a molecular embryologist and senior author of the study, told the Telegraph: “We’re talking about different ways of making embryos. Imagine that you could take skin cells and make embryos from them. This would have all kinds of utility.”

Some of these “utilities” include allowing two gay men to produce a child that is born with DNA from both parents.

A single man might also be able to fertilize his own cells to produce offspring that contained genes from himself and his parents.

“More realistically, the technique could allow women whose fertility has been wiped out by cancer drugs or radiotherapy to have their own children,” Knapton writes.

Women may also be able to have children later in life through this method.

Scientists say conception with the use of sperm and non-egg cells could also help in the preservation of endangered species.

Dr Perry’s team is now planning to take the next step of attempting to produce lie offspring from ordinary non-egg cells such as skin cells.

Mankind appears to be drifting further and further away from natural forms of reproduction which pose a multitude of problems not just for Catholics, but for all of mankind.

As Helen Alvare explains in this article on new reproductive technologies (NRTs) which appeared in the Fordham Urban Law Journal in 2002, the Church believes that all humans have the right to be conceived in a manner fit for human persons. “Specifically, we have the right to be the fruits of the act of our parents’ sexual intercourse. Pope John Paul II calls this the child’s right to have a fully human origin. It is fully human when it conforms with the human being’s personal nature. A personal nature reflected in a conception in love that is permanent, mutual, and totally self-giving, in a covenant reflecting the same kind of love God has for the human person. . . .”

She goes on to quote Donum Vitae which states: “Life is a gift that must be bestowed in a manner worthy both of the subject receiving it and of the subjects transmitting it.”

When considering forms of NRT that involve fertilization outside the body, “the procreative aspect of human sexuality has been wrongly severed from its unitive aspect, the spiritual and physical union of the parents. Procreation is thus deprived of the meanings that come from its bodily source, and from the message that a man and a woman communicate to one another when they engage in human sexual intercourse,” Alvare writes.

“This form of procreation is instead dominated by the rubric and standards of scientific technology: efficiency and domination over nature.”

This is hardly the kind of honorable origin a human deserves, nor does it protect him or her from the presently unknown ravages of nature scorned.

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