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Is it possible, in any way, for the human, male
testes to produce sperm with another human's
genetic information? Perhaps if a female,
diploid cell were inserted into the testes, is
there a way to force it to go through meiosis and
become a viable sperm? If so, what is the exact
process it (the female diploid cell) would need to
go through? If not, why and is there any other
way?
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Question Date: 2002-02-23 | | Answer 1:
That's a tough one. When we are embryos, our
cells possess the genetic information of our moms
and dads. Our cells divide by mitosis to
form our body (or somatic tissues). This is true
for the precursors of sperm cells, called
"germ" cells. However, their ability to
become haploid cells is controlled by cells other
than themselves. In your scenario, the trick is to
convince a female diploid cell to express all the
factors necessary for it to become a sperm (become
haploid, change it's protein coat, grow a
flagella, etc.) As you may imagine, it's very
difficult. We do know that scientists can remove
the nucleus of somatic cell and place it in
another. Of course, that's called cloning.
Below, you'll find a very informative web link
(and a paragraph I copied from that page). I hope
this helps! weblink:
web link Why do developing sperm need
their neighbors?
| | Answer 2:
Wow, this is a tough one. Obviously it's way
beyond our current technology, but let's look at
what's theoretically possible. As you pointed out,
the cell would have to become haploid to be a
viable sperm cell. Normally the man's stem cells
(spermatagonia) undergo meiosis as they
develop in the wall of the testes, surrounded by
the sertoli cells. So let's say we inserted
a woman's diploid stem cell here. Would it
develop into a sperm cell? I doubt it because
the receptors on the cell would probably not
respond to the signals sent out by the sertoli
cells and the other hormones that cause sperm
cells to mature.
Now for the woman's
sex cell. All egg stem cells start going through
meiosis before a woman is even born.
They're in their second prophase by the time their
"owner" is born. So an egg cell that had not
undergone meiosis I would have to be collected
from a fetus.
You can probably imagine some of the many ethical
questions that this would raise. Could another
man's spermatagonia be implanted in a man's
testes? This seems a lot more likely, though
there would certainly be a lot of ethical debate
there too.
By the way, normally the body would reject
a foreign cell, just like it would try to reject
an implanted heart or liver. However, this is not
the case inside the testes. Can you figure out
why not? (Clue: Look up MHC or HLA and
think about the gametes being haploid) Click Here to return to the search form.
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