Editing Reproductive technology (section)

====Same-sex procreation====
Research is currently investigating the possibility of same-sex procreation, which would produce offspring with equal genetic contributions from either two females or two males.<ref name = "Kissin_2019">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=dIOWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PR10 |title=Assisted Reproductive Technology Surveillance |last1=Kissin |first1=Dmitry M. |last2=Adamson |first2=G. David |last3=Chambers |first3=Georgina |last4= DeGeyter |first4=Christian | name-list-style = vanc |date=2019-07-04 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-49858-6 }}</ref> This form of reproduction has become a possibility through the creation of either [[female sperm]] (containing the genetic material of a female) or [[male egg]]s (containing the genetic material of a male). Same-sex procreation would remove the need for lesbian and gay couples to rely on a third party donation of a sperm or an egg for reproduction.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Gerkowicz SA, Crawford SB, Hipp HS, Boulet SL, Kissin DM, Kawwass JF | title = Assisted reproductive technology with donor sperm: national trends and perinatal outcomes | journal = American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology | volume = 218 | issue = 4 | pages = 421.e1–421.e10 | date = April 2018 | pmid = 29291411 | doi = 10.1016/j.ajog.2017.12.224 | s2cid = 27903207 | pmc = 11056969 }}</ref>
The first significant development occurred in 1991, in a patent application filed by U.Penn. scientists to fix male sperm by extracting some sperm, correcting a genetic defect in vitro, and injecting the sperm back into the male's testicles.<ref name=":3">{{Patent|US|5858354|Repopulation of testicular Seminiferous tubules with foreign cells, corresponding resultant germ cells, and corresponding resultant animals and progeny}}</ref> While the vast majority of the patent application dealt with male sperm, one line suggested that the procedure would work with XX cells, i.e., cells from an adult woman to make female sperm.

In the two decades that followed, the idea of female sperm became more of a reality. In 1997, scientists partially confirmed such techniques by creating chicken female sperm in a similar manner.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Tagami T, Matsubara Y, Hanada H, Naito M | title = Differentiation of female chicken primordial germ cells into spermatozoa in male gonads | journal = Development, Growth & Differentiation | volume = 39 | issue = 3 | pages = 267–71 | date = June 1997 | pmid = 9227893 | doi = 10.1046/j.1440-169X.1997.t01-2-00002.x | s2cid = 35900043 | doi-access = free }}</ref> They did so by injecting blood stem cells from an adult female chicken into a male chicken's testicles. In 2004, other Japanese scientists created two female offspring by combining the eggs of two adult mice.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kono T, Obata Y, Wu Q, Niwa K, Ono Y, Yamamoto Y, Park ES, Seo JS, Ogawa H | display-authors = 6 | title = Birth of parthenogenetic mice that can develop to adulthood | journal = Nature | volume = 428 | issue = 6985 | pages = 860–4 | date = April 2004 | pmid = 15103378 | doi = 10.1038/nature02402 | bibcode = 2004Natur.428..860K | s2cid = 4353479 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Silva SG, Bertoldi AD, Silveira MF, Domingues MR, Evenson KR, Santos IS | title = Assisted reproductive technology: prevalence and associated factors in Southern Brazil | journal = Revista de Saúde Pública | volume = 53 | pages = 13 | date = January 2019 | pmid = 30726494 | pmc = 6390642 | doi = 10.11606/s1518-8787.2019053000737 | url = https://www.scielosp.org/article/rsp/2019.v53/13/ }}</ref>

In 2008, research was done specifically for methods on creating human female sperm using artificial or natural [[Y chromosome]]s and testicular transplantation.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.samesexprocreation.com/archive/sprmpict.pdf|title=Color illustration of female sperm making process|publisher=Human Samesex Reproduction Project}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> A UK-based group predicted they would be able to create human female sperm within five years. So far no conclusive successes have been achieved.<ref name=":2">{{cite news |url= https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/nsw/scientists-turn-bone-marrow-into-sperm-ng-59b4273be880d39210e725126b676986 |title=Scientists turn bone marrow into sperm |last=MacRae |first=Fiona | name-list-style = vanc |date= February 2008 |publisher=The Courier and Mail | location = Australia }}</ref>

In 2018 Chinese research scientists produced 29 viable mice offspring from two mother mice by creating sperm-like structures from haploid [[Embryonic stem cell]]s using [[Genome editing|gene editing]] to alter imprinted regions of DNA. They were unable to get viable offspring from two fathers. Experts noted that there was little chance of these techniques being applied to humans in the near future.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sciencealert.com/genomic-imprinting-silenced-in-haploid-stem-cells-produces-fatherless-mice|title=Chinese Researchers Have Spawned Healthy Mice With 2 Biological Mothers And No Father|last=McRae|first=Mike | name-list-style = vanc |date=11 October 2018|work=Science Alert|access-date=12 October 2018}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite journal | vauthors = Li ZK, Wang LY, Wang LB, Feng GH, Yuan XW, Liu C, Xu K, Li YH, Wan HF, Zhang Y, Li YF, Li X, Li W, Zhou Q, Hu BY | display-authors = 6 | title = Generation of Bimaternal and Bipaternal Mice from Hypomethylated Haploid ESCs with Imprinting Region Deletions | journal = Cell Stem Cell | volume = 23 | issue = 5 | pages = 665–676.e4 | date = November 2018 | pmid = 30318303 | doi = 10.1016/j.stem.2018.09.004 | doi-access = free }}</ref>