WTF? Same-sex mice have babies
Baby mice have been made with two mums and no dad, say researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
It took a substantial feat of genetic engineering to break the rules of reproduction.
The scientists said the “bimaternal” (two mammas) animals were healthy and went on to have pups of their own.
But there was bad news on the all-male front. Mice with double-dads were attempted, but died within days of being born.
Why even try?
The researchers were trying to answer fundamental questions about why we have sex.
Mammals, including us, can make babies only through sexual reproduction – aka you need an egg from mum and a sperm from dad.
But the rest of the natural world doesn’t play by the same rules; some female fish, reptiles, amphibians and birds can go it alone.
Welcome to the bizarre world of virgin births known officially as parthenogenesis.
It was easier with double mums. The researchers took an egg from one mouse and a special type of cell – a haploid embryonic stem cell – from another.
Both contained only half the required genetic instructions or DNA, but just bringing them together wasn’t enough.
The researchers had to use a technology called gene editing to delete three sets of genetic instructions to make them compatible (more on that later).
The double-dad approach was slightly more complicated.
HMMMMM So can I have a baby with my same-sex partner?
Unless you’re a mouse reading this, and a female one at that, then the answer is not any time soon.
Dr Teresa Holm, from the University of Auckland, thinks there is a chance in the long run.
“[The research] may even lead to the development of ways for same-sex couples to reproduce healthy children of their own,” she says.
But she points out there are “significant ethical and safety concerns that would need to be overcome”.
It would not be allowed to happen until scientists could be sure any resultant children would grow up mentally and physically normal.
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