40
Technology for lab-grown eggs or sperm on brink of viability, UK fertility watchdog finds
(www.theguardian.com)
Synthetic humans and the augment wars - here we come!
this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2025
40 points (97.6% liked)
Technology
2651 readers
322 users here now
Which posts fit here?
Anything that is at least tangentially connected to the technology, social media platforms, informational technologies and tech policy.
Post guidelines
[Opinion] prefix
Opinion (op-ed) articles must use [Opinion] prefix before the title.
Rules
1. English only
Title and associated content has to be in English.
2. Use original link
Post URL should be the original link to the article (even if paywalled) and archived copies left in the body. It allows avoiding duplicate posts when cross-posting.
3. Respectful communication
All communication has to be respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences.
4. Inclusivity
Everyone is welcome here regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, caste, color, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.
5. Ad hominem attacks
Any kind of personal attacks are expressly forbidden. If you can't argue your position without attacking a person's character, you already lost the argument.
6. Off-topic tangents
Stay on topic. Keep it relevant.
7. Instance rules may apply
If something is not covered by community rules, but are against lemmy.zip instance rules, they will be enforced.
Companion communities
!globalnews@lemmy.zip
!interestingshare@lemmy.zip
Icon attribution | Banner attribution
If someone is interested in moderating this community, message @brikox@lemmy.zip.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Filthy Tanks
"Mass-producing eggs and sperm in a laboratory in order to have a baby with yourself or three other people in a “multiplex” parenting arrangement might sound like the plot of a dystopian novel.
But these startling scenarios are under consideration by the UK’s fertility watchdog, which has concluded that the technology could be on the brink of viability."
That's weird
I guess the answer is in the next line:
“Bolstered by Silicon Valley investment“
It's certainly different. I was going to say unique, but that would be incorrect.
Idk about dystopian
This honestly sounds really interesting for same-sex families. I hope this technology works out sooner rather than later. It would be really nice to potentially have a fully biological family like straight couples :)
(And it might eventually be way less expensive than adopting donor eggs/sperm)
Would lesbians be able to have boys if both gave their material? Women only have X sex chromosomes and men have both X and Y, so if I'm not mistaken two (or more) lesbians wouldn't be able to conceive boys.
Sounds correct to me. Females are XX, so neither parent would have the Y that's necessary to make an XY male.
I honestly have no idea. Interesting to think about, though.
Hey, anybody ever read "Brave New World"?
Does anyone know if having a baby with yourself carries the same genetic risks as breeding with first cousins?
iirc the main issue with familial reproduction is that, since families are likely to share much of the same genes, they are likely to share much of the same recessive genes. Invisible in individuals with just one copy, the union of two such individuals can create an individual with two copies, which means the trait is expressed.
If it is cloning, that is fine, but if it remixes the DNA, It could potentially cause expression of recessive traits? I think?
The child would just be a genetic clone of the parent. There would be no change in genetic risks.
Good question. I thought it would be more like having a clone of yourself, but maybe that's the same issue? Copy of a copy?