Ethics of stem cell‐derived gametes made in a dish: fertility for everyone?

Abstract

The year 2016 gave a glimpse of a future where functional gametes can be made in a dish. Pursuit of the creation of oocytes and sperm from stem cells broadly serves two ends: (i) scientific research, for example, understanding infertility or gametogenesis and (ii) new assisted reproductive technology (ART) development. Creating sperm and oocytes in vitro may well provide revolutionizing options for both research and reproduction, but is replete with ethical and societal challenges. Here, we discuss some of the key ethical challenges and promises. Last year, several research groups made important advances toward the in vitro creation of gametes after preliminary research had indicated that gametes could be derived from somatic and pluripotent stem cells (Hayashi et al , 2012). In 2016, Japanese researchers generated the first functional male and female mouse germ cells. They reprogrammed mouse skin cells into induced pluripotent stem cells and then into oocytes. By way of in vitro fertilization (IVF), 26 new mice were born from these oocytes, some of which gave birth to mouse pups themselves (Cyranoski, 2016; Hikabe et al , 2016). Another group created spermatid‐like cells from embryonic stem cells and primordial germ cells, which resulted in viable and fertile offspring (Zhou et al , 2016). Creating oocytes and sperm in the laboratory broadly serves two ends: scientific research, for example, to understand infertility or gametogenesis and the development of new assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Fortunately, most couples can have children “the usual way,” but some couples, which suffer from subfertility, require ART to have children. These prospective parents can use IVF or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), both of which depend on the premise that both partners produce viable gametes (Ishii & Pera, 2016). There are other people, however, who need a gamete donor to have children (Hendriks et al , 2015): heterosexual couples of reproductive age …