Althouse: "The prospect of women conceiving without men has moved a step closer after Chinese researchers produced a baby mouse from an unfertilised egg for the first time."

March 8, 2022

"The prospect of women conceiving without men has moved a step closer after Chinese researchers produced a baby mouse from an unfertilised egg for the first time."

"Parthenogenesis, the Ancient Greek term for a virgin birth, is used by scientists to describe a process where eggs spontaneously divide, without fertilisation by sperm, to form an embryo... 'Could this be moved straight to humans? The answer is no, because you’re talking about having hundreds of miscarriages to get one baby.... Other people who’ve commented on it have said this could be moved to humans within ten years. I disagree with that. But it does make it more realistic that a similar approach could eventually be done in humans.'"

The London Times reports.

27 comments:

rhhardin said...: The point of sexual reproduction is changing all the locks, like rotating crops.; 3/8/22, 9:39 AM
Owen said...: Would the offspring be clones of the parent? What genes would be absent because they can only be delivered by the Y chromosome: which has been replaced with, I guess, a duplicate X?

By the way, does anybody care about the ethics here? Not just for the mother, and putting her through probably many cycles of failure, messing with her hormones and her hopes; but also for the offspring, which will always be something-not-quite-human, studied intensely for its entire life, susceptible to who-knows-what genetic defects --all in the name of Science? Science, which here means, pretty much, "We can, so we will."; 3/8/22, 9:48 AM
Mason G said...: What could possibly go wrong?; 3/8/22, 9:51 AM
Wince said...: The prospect of women conceiving without men has moved a step closer after Chinese researchers produced a baby mouse from an unfertilised egg for the first time.

"And I don't even own a TV."; 3/8/22, 9:54 AM
tastid212 said...: Wouldn’t this process produce only females?
But aren’t female babies aborted at a vastly higher rate than males?; 3/8/22, 10:01 AM
JAORE said...: The ultimate form of incest.; 3/8/22, 10:10 AM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: Cloning is a dead end. Repeated cloning will result in transcription errors. Eventually the errors will build up and result in non-viable reproduction and species extinction. There have been numerous science fiction stories about that end, including a story line in Stargate SGI t.v. series.; 3/8/22, 10:16 AM
Limited blogger said...: good to see important shit is still going on in the world; 3/8/22, 10:18 AM
ALP said...: Read "Glory Season" by David Brin to see how it turns out.; 3/8/22, 10:24 AM
Lou M said...: "Seven Eves" had this as a major theme.; 3/8/22, 10:37 AM
Big Mike said...: Feminists are turning cartwheels down the halls. But who will open their jelly jars for them?; 3/8/22, 10:38 AM
MikeR said...: You go, girl.; 3/8/22, 11:02 AM
n.n said...: Unless they have discovered the God genes, a lack of diversity will normalize genetic supremacism, morbidity, dysfunction, and death. A new god, a new faith, a new religion. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.; 3/8/22, 11:25 AM
TickTock said...: There are certainly a lot of women who already think men are unnecessary.; 3/8/22, 12:09 PM
Joe Smith said...: Sure...no men needed for having a baby.

But what the hell are the ladies going to do next time they need a pickle jar opened?

Or a running toilet fixed. Or a pothole filled in. Or a........; 3/8/22, 12:57 PM
rehajm said...: Favored joke in middle school...

Dad: I tried to be BOTH a mother AND a father to you!

Son: Go fuck yourself, dad...; 3/8/22, 1:03 PM
Caroline said...: Progress!; 3/8/22, 1:59 PM
Mason G said...: "Or a running toilet fixed. Or a pothole filled in. Or a........"

Child support check?; 3/8/22, 3:43 PM
n.n said...: Progress!

Unqualified, monotonic change. One step forward, two steps backward.; 3/8/22, 3:57 PM
n.n said...: There are certainly a lot of women who already think men are unnecessary.

A practical and actual "burden". Whereas normal men and women approach the human duality as equal in rights and complementary in Nature/nature, reconcile.; 3/8/22, 4:02 PM
Lars Porsena said...: Some sucker will still end up paying child-support.; 3/8/22, 4:43 PM
Rigelsen said...: Owen: “Would the offspring be clones of the parent?”

No, unless the mother’s genes were constructed the same way. Normally humans have 23 chromosomal pairs, with one of each pair being from either parent. In this case, each pair in the child’s genome would be duplicates of each other. So, the child, always a girl, ends up with half the genetic diversity of the mother, with all the attendant genetic risks.

Of course, any children of the child would be its perfect genetic clone. Well, except for any stray mutations which would no longer be mitigated by alternate genetic information.

A bad idea, all around.; 3/8/22, 5:28 PM
Jupiter said...: "The answer is no, because you’re talking about having hundreds of miscarriages to get one baby."

In China, that's not an issue. So the Uighur breeding unit has a few miscarriages before she produces your heir. Better her than you.; 3/8/22, 6:09 PM
effinayright said...: Anyone remember "feminists" claiming that the male Y chromosome is just a deformed and stunted version of the perfect female X?

Since parthenogenesis can only produce females, such wimmin will be very happy. Especially lesbians, who think of men and thei penises as...ick.

(I'm reminded of "Bloom County" cartoonist Berke Breathed's take on such people: "Set your phasers on Shave."); 3/8/22, 6:15 PM
Greg The Class Traitor said...: Key phrase here: epigenetics.

There are a bunch of genes that NEED to come from Dad, because mom's version is disabled via epigenetic pathways.

10 years is amazingly optimistic; 3/8/22, 7:39 PM
Can'tFindADecentAlias said...: Might it be a time to take a hiatus from all things from Chinese labs? Asking for a friend.; 3/8/22, 8:42 PM
walter said...: "'Could this be moved straight to humans? The answer is no, because you’re talking about having hundreds of miscarriages to get one baby"
See eggs to omelettes maxim ;); 3/8/22, 8:59 PM