Are we heading towards a man-less world :) ;)

[working_mom]

When my husband read this blog, he was upset and said that some one should sue the "Nutty Professor"   Any one man enough to do that  ?

Here it goes 

Adam could end up losing more than a rib. Much, much more. Britain's Prof Karim Nayernia has claimed that he has created human sperm in his stem-cell lab. It could be the ultimate game changer, the total rout of sexual politics. Will it mean 'Goodbye testes, Hello test-tube'? Or will nature's delivery boys stand up and be sperm counted?



The devastating announcement was predictably greeted with shock and awe. In one flick of a petri dish, the human male could change from storm to desert. Truly, he has been cell-shocked, bedsheet-bombed. Will he, can he, rise again from the debris of his blitzed ego?



Relax, man. The question is still academic. Even if Karim's lab ishtew is as mind-blowing as he claims, the bio-ethics brigade will be sure to halt his experiment in mid-spermicide. Even his peers have pooh-poohed. Noted sperm biologist Allen Pacey was "unconvinced". And Cambridge luminary Azim Surani dismissed the cells as merely "sperm-like", almost adding, "You'll have to come a long way to make a baby."



The Chronicle of Nayernia is no airy-fairy adventure. These very lab lords had hailed the Karim team's earlier success with mouse sperm it was not only produced from embryonic cells, but had actually resulted in living, wriggling, squealing, baby chuhas. The recent bombshell, however, is quite different. There could be a dissenting view, but most people will emphatically state that a man is not a mouse.



Whether you are male, female, both or neither, you are sure to have mixed feelings about this seminal development. It is also a reminder that coldly clinical science is as prey to mixed emotions as the mortals who take it forward, backward or into an ethical no-fly zone. This is why we readily spend millions on research to remove the heartbreak of infertility, but balk at a breakthrough that could pull this very solution out of a test tube.



If babies are okay, why is sperm nokay? Is it because it's a man thing? The male ego is notoriously more fragile than the zillions of spermatozoa which self-destruct at every outing.



Even though it is unlikely that this doomsday scenario will move from lab to labour room, men have jumped the gun. And women have gunned for this jump in sweet revenge. Males have brought out their heavy weapons and drilled holes in Prof Nayernia's claim when they would be better off conserving their ammo while they still have it. Men have gone to great lengths to show how much they have contributed to 'mankind'. "That's precisely our grouse," says womankind, and sadistically salivates over the prospect of not just an ex-lover or husband, but the entire lot of XY louts skulking into extinction.



Not to worry, though. The whip side of sadism may be masochism but women are in no hurry to inflict a man-less world on themselves. They know that if there's anything more maddening than a man hanging around and getting in the way, it's NOT having a man hanging around and getting in the way so you can bite his head off. What's the point of being the superior sex, if there isn't anyone to feel superior over?



There's even less cause for panic, guys. This is only a limited over. Just because you might be laid off the reproduction line doesn't mean you have no role in the grand production called life. You can continue to build corporate empires and beer bellies, create the perfect BT brinjal or couch potato. To think otherwise would be absolutely illogical. And just like a woman, no?

[Old Mike]

I think that, given the fact that childbirth for the woman is less enjoyable than sperm supply for the man, it is likely that artificial wombs will be developed in the next 10 or so years. That would make the biological function of the woman redundant.
As Isaac Asimov suggested, we might end up genetically engineering ourselves to have both male and female equipment, purely for the purposes of self gratification.
It would, of course, give a whole new dimension to the term foursome.
Babies would be produced elsewhere.

[Dr. Phil]

Well, firstly we should not be too quick to associate man's innovations with the existence of God or whatever. Its not a choice for those who lack faith.

We transplant hearts and vital organs, we have walked on the moon...these achievements are part of why we are here. They are the universal challenges we can confront and overcome or like some pagan collective, reject progress.

If indeed we can manufacture sperm it will come from the donor's dna and this means men who want to sire children but are unable to do so will have their dreams come true and that is good enough for me. Those who disagree have made the wrong choice of partner or are ultra Catholic.

If a man's inability to sire a child is the product of nature's intervention or Darwin's theoery of evolution then man must go further to confront whatever obstacles subsequently arise.

This kind of research can make the crippled walk, the sick healthy and gift those destined for an early grave the experience of embracing grandchildren.

This is an extension of community healthcare. Its not immoral. But if it is restricted to those who can pay, as in USA, it will be.  

[Bagshot, Col]

So theoretically a memsahib could easily obtain a DNA sample from a chap, become impregnated with his perm without his knowledge and then sue for maintenance?

Will this undermine paternity tests? Will this help or hinder gold-digging mothers of America, what? 

[Addadude]

To the question "Are we heading towards a man-less world?"

I would answer that this appears to have already happened in Singapore...

http://www.expatsingapore.com/forum/index.php/topic,54414.0.html

[JRG]

Well working mum, some more probablr bad news for your husband. I read a book 4 or 5 years ago - Altering Eden - the Feminization of Nature by Deborah Cadbury.

In her book, Scientists around the world are finding changes in humand reproduction. I think one of the studies was done in Copenhagen where they found the semen sample of young men contained too few sperm and many of them had abnormal sperm. They believe that exposure to certain chemicals such as DDT, PCB and others are responsible for these changes.

It was an interesting read for me and it would be interesting to hear what others thought of the book.

[working_mom]

Men can relax  The research paper has been retracted

LONDON: A controversial study by British scientists who claimed to have created human sperm from embryonic stem cells has been retracted, the 
researchers' institutes said on Friday.

The paper was withdrawn because part of it had been copied from another author without attribution, they said, while adding that the science itself had not been questioned.

The researchers, led by Professor Karim Nayernia at Newcastle University and the NorthEast England Stem Cell Institute (NESCI), said they had created sperm precursor cells in a lab dish from human embryonic stem cells that carried XY, or male, chromosomes.

The derived cells were able to divide and generate cells with just one set of chromosomes, characteristic of sperm, they said in the paper, published on July 8 in a US academic journal, Stem Cells and Development.

Embryonic stem cells are the hugely versatile master cells found in early-stage embryos that differentiate into becoming all of the tissues of the body.

The study caused huge excitement, as it conjured the idea of a revolution in treating male infertility.

But other researchers were doubtful, saying the work had failed to provide evidence that the spermatozoa behaved and functioned like sperm rather than being just sperm-like cells.

Retraction by a journal can be a major humiliation for scientists, denting the credibility of the work and its authors. The editor and publisher of Stem Cell and Development could not be immediately reached for comment.

In the statement, Newcastle University and NESCI said the paper had been peer-reviewed and "no questions have been raised about the science conducted or the conclusions of the research."

"The withdrawal relates to text in the introduction of an old version of the paper that was submitted in error," the statement said.

"The text was copied without attribution to its original author by a research associate, Dr. Jae Ho Lee, who has since left the University. He has apologised to the authors for his mistake and the name of Dr Lee has been removed from the first authorship."

The paper "will now be submitted to another peer-reviewed academic journal," it said, without elaborating.

Stem cells are one of the new frontiers of biomedical research.

This area has drawn lavish funding over the past decade, dangling the glittering vision of growing replacement cells in a lab dish that can replenish diseased or damaged tissue.

But it has also known setbacks and scandal. In 2005, South Korea's Hwang Woo-Suk, once lionised as a pioneer, fell into disgrace after it emerged he had faked two landmark papers, published in the prestigious US journal Science, about creating human stem cells through cloning.

[eshan]

All until it is assumed that Nature created two Genders .. and until humans find out why Nature created it, if it all it had..

Once it is known, that Gender was an Artificial insemination into a creature that can imagine..we can see a world of transformation.

[Lil Miss Realistic]

I think that, given the fact that childbirth for the woman is less enjoyable than sperm supply for the man, it is likely that artificial wombs will be developed in the next 10 or so years. That would make the biological function of the woman redundant.
As Isaac Asimov suggested, we might end up genetically engineering ourselves to have both male and female equipment, purely for the purposes of self gratification.
It would, of course, give a whole new dimension to the term foursome.
Babies would be produced elsewhere.

That sounds incredibly disgusting, dual equipment...totally gross.

Well once artificial sperm and wombs are created, I would think kids would be much more detached from family units because of a lack of bonding created by the experience of birth for both mother and child and husband and wife.

Perhaps spouses can focus more on the qualities of the personality and heart more than the physical aspects of a union - but oh, who am I kidding.