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In a first for stem - cell technology , researchers have produced mouse with two begetter .
The mice , get at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston , contain no maternal deoxyribonucleic acid . Instead , their genomes are made up of contributions from two male mice . The technology could eventually be used to engender prize livestock orendangered speciesin which few or no females remain , harmonize to the researchers . Any hard-nosed program in humans is a long mode off .
A white mouse.
tie in cell - technology methods have raise monkey from two mothers . researcher from the U.K. have created human embryos with deoxyribonucleic acid from three parents , though those embryo were sustained only in a lab and never think of for reproduction .
Producing the motherless computer mouse took some fancy lab work . First , investigator engineered cell from a manlike mouse foetus — Father No . 1 — to turn the cellular telephone into pluripotent stem cells . Pluripotent base cells can become any cadre in the body .
Male cell normally have one X and one wye chromosome , while females have two X chromosome . However , when researchers make pluripotent theme prison cell in the science lab , about 1 percentage impromptu lose their Y chromosome because of natural genetic mistakes . Those stem cells are left with just an ten chromosome .
The researchers took these Adam - only ( or " XO " ) cell and injected them into normal mouse fertilized egg , which they then implanted in a surrogate mother computer mouse . The resulting baby mice werechimeras , or organisms with several distinct populations of cells . About half of the mice were female chimeras with some XX cells ( which came from the normal embryo ) and some XO cells , which contained desoxyribonucleic acid from Father No . 1 .
When the female chimeras reached maturity , the research worker mated them with steady male mouse . Some of the females ' egg prison cell derived from the XO mobile phone . Those cells contained DNA from Father No . 1 only , so when the distaff chimeras mated with another male — Father No . 2 — some of the progeny thus had an cristal chromosome from Father No . 1 and either an X or Y chromosome from Father No . 2 .
So far , three males , two XX female person and five XO females with only daddy - DNA have been abide , the researchers cover Nov. 8 in the journal Biology of Reproduction .
The researchers write that the technique could be modified so that " some day two humanity could produce their owngenetic sons and daughter . " To do so without the multigenerational overture used to produce the mouse , scientist would have to cajole male cell line to bring forth egg cells .
But the technical and ethical roadblock to transferring the process to human being are passing high , both because cell reprogramming can spark off tumors and because humans who inherit only one X chromosome rarely survive . cleaning lady deliver with only one X chromosome are infertile and often confront health trouble such as innate heart disease and thyroid gland disorderliness .
you may followLiveScienceSenior Writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas .
