Functional spermatozoids production from stem cells

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Albator
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Functional spermatozoids production from stem cells

Post by Albator »

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer ... med_docsum

With that going on it's a new step in the uselesness of mens. 1st cloning, and now it might become possible to get spermatozoides from stem cells. The technique might even allow for WOMEN to indirectly produce spermatozoids since the same group, in another publication, claim to be able to obtain male germ cells from bone marrow stem cells.

So is this a positive result or another proof that mad scientists are on the loose?

EDIT:actually now that I think about it, this should be in the current events forum. The info was just so surprising that I put it in OTW :D
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Post by psi29a »

That is fine with me, as it only effects reproduction. IMO, the most fun anyone can have in life is sex.

I view this is the least fun method of breeding, however in the long run could possibly be better for children. We just don't know.
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Post by Albator »

Tks for moving it.

You realize this is not only yours, but also a very *male* point of view.

The method is not necessarily the point here, we knew this was theoratically possible, but the consequences. For exemple, curing male infertility could also be a possibility, because we are going to gain lots of insights and control over gametes maturation.
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Quest
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Post by Quest »

this is great news.
males are more of an after-thought in the 1st place. God created woman 1st then used her as a template for man.

the proof?
your nipples.
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Post by psi29a »

Quest wrote:this is great news.
males are more of an after-thought in the 1st place. God created woman 1st then used her as a template for man.

the proof?
your nipples.
Errr, care to prove that God did or did not create man... period? If not, leave god out of it please.
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Post by Quest »

God or whatnot, my point was being: the fact is that even though in most societies man is the dominant gender, physiologically woman is the template from which man is based on.

so it is not shocking to think that there may be a future where man need not exist.
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Post by psi29a »

Quest wrote:God or whatnot, my point was being: the fact is that even though in most societies man is the dominant gender, physiologically woman is the template from which man is based on.

so it is not shocking to think that there may be a future where man need not exist.
If man was created in the template of a woman, then how did they firstprocreate? I think what you are proposing is misleading.

As proven with the successful resolution of the chicken and egg scenario we find that the chicken came first to hatch the egg. This means that at some point the pre-chicken ancestor gave birth (method is immaterial) to the chicken that in turn laid the egg.

With that out of the way, we come back to gender, of which we find that gender predates modern man as well as ancesterial man.

A good read!
To demonstrate this, a team of scientists created a mutant strain of yeast that, unlike normal yeast, was unable to divide into the sexual spores that allow yeast to engage in sexual reproduction. Yeast can reproduce either sexually or asexually.

When testing this mutant strain in stress-free conditions, the scientists found that it performed as well as normal yeast. In more extreme conditions, however, the normal yeast grew faster than the asexual mutants.

...

unequivocally that sex allows for more rapid evolution,
Naturely speaking, gender predates humans thus eleminiating the 'man of woman' template scenario. Sexual reproduction increases rate of evolution over that of asexual reproduction. Human beings from the get-go where of two genders.

So, is this technique overall good for humanity? More specifically what do we gain from this and what do we loose?
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Post by LordMune »

I- huh. I'm not sure what Quest is getting at, but I believe part of his argument is that the male form is a mutation of the female 'template'.
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Post by psi29a »

Human embryos are sexually dimorphic at first (i.e. contain characteristics of both sexes), because they all have basically the same genetic information, and this information is expressed as efficiently as possible as the embryo develops.

In all human embryos, at first both the müllerian duct system (female) and the wolffian duct system (male) develop, because both sexes have the genetic information for these structures. Incidentally, this refutes the urban myth that human embryos ‘start off female’. The subsequent differences are the result of designed chemical signals that control the expression of the information. E.g., a gene set usually found on the Y chromosome controls the levels of testosterone and dihydroxytestosterone (DHT) secretion.

Above a certain level, these hormones suppress the development of the müllerian duct system and promote the wolffian duct system, so the embryo takes on masculine characteristics. Below a certain hormone level, the opposite happens, and the embryo takes on female characteristics.
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Post by MrFelony »

well good to have another myth busted. and i think that myth might have been where quest was coming from...
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Post by Albator »

Too long to elaborate on what has been said, but based on what is known now(part of it being summarized by what Psi said), it's reasonable to say that all embryos develops into female by default, unless hte Y chromosome kick in, which said 2 things: 1- all embryos have not the same genetic information 2- the myth of 'start off female' might have some true into it, but it just means nothing.

From my point of view, this technique is astonishing. You can potentially get sperm from woman. There is not too much to get out of this from a practical point of view though(existing techniques are much better than this would ever be), but from a theoritical point of view I thought it was worst mentioning.
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Post by Quest »

i admit i was hastily and wrong to pass the "female form first" theory as fact.
it is my belief that the human fetus is female until the introduction of testoserone makes it male.

looking at the broader animal kingdom, social insects like bees and ants are all female till it is time for reproduction, then the queen produces males.
male mammals having nipples have no useful purpose. is this a remnant from the deault female form?
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Post by psi29a »

They are not fully female either, think of them as pat. Sexual organs (don't think of them as overies or testes, because you would be wrong) are there, but not developed in one way or another until chemicals tell it how it should develop.

So nipples are economy of evolution, they are there if you need them. Some men do lactate. (doh).
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Post by Eldo »

But...but the bibel wrote 'man come first' and woman came second and shit like that. You can't not believe in the bibel!!11!oneone

edit: had to add 'oneone' -- psi29a
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