# "Startup aims to make lab-grown human eggs..." **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 20, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319 "2023-07-20T18:43:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319/1 "2023-07-20T18:43:10Z")
This strikes me as an extraordinarily bad idea. > **[Startup aims to make lab-grown human eggs, transforming options for creating...](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/07/15/1184298351/conception-human-eggs-ivg-ivf-infertility)** > > New companies are working to commercialize in vitro gametogenesis, or IVG, a technology that could make human eggs and sperm in the lab from any cell in the body. > … > This sudden influx of private funding is creating a lot of excitement, but also a lot of fears. > > ### The rapid development of IVG raises ethical concerns > > “This could take us into a kind of [_Gattaca_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/) world,” says[Marcy Darnovsky](https://www.geneticsandsociety.org/user/25), who runs the Center for Genetics and Society in Berkeley. > > IVG could accelerate the rush toward all kinds of dystopian scenarios, including designer babies, Darnovsky says. “Combining IVG and genome editing and commercialization, you’ve really got kind of a toxic stew to create people who are supposedly biologically superior to others,” she says. “We don’t want to pave the road toward any kind of future that looks anything like that.” > … (Bold in original) Gee…what could possibly go wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319/2 "2023-07-20T19:14:34Z")
I prefer my humane eggs pasture raised. 🙃 ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319/3 "2023-07-20T22:51:32Z")
What could go wrong? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2wYus8b_gEc/maxresdefault.jpg "Sperm Wars: Battle of the Incest Baby - Rick and Morty") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wYus8b_gEc) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319/4 "2023-07-20T23:49:17Z")
Call me when I can get lab-grown human bacon. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319/5 "2023-07-21T13:19:04Z")
Ok… so before this thread heads out to the cornfield, tell me: am I overreacting? Is this just some weirdo idea that will never get any traction outside a lab? Like cloning human beings? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319/6 "2023-07-21T13:32:23Z")
The folks at this lab are fools. They’re supposed to describe their work as generating totipotent stem cells from adult cells, because that’s fine and dandy and encouraged. Describing it this way makes it sound too much like cloning research, which is absolutely prohibited. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319/7 "2023-07-21T13:35:35Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Gee…what could possibly go wrong? Yeah, think of all the genetic diseases we might be able to prevent with widespread genetic screening, and the human suffering that could be alleviated as a result! _The horror!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319/8 "2023-07-21T13:42:45Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Ok… so before this thread heads out to the cornfield, tell me: am I overreacting? Is this just some weirdo idea that will never get any traction outside a lab? Like cloning human beings? No, this doesn’t sound like a weirdo idea or like cloning human beings at all. It sounds like a fantastic technological development that could first make it easier for couples who are having problems getting pregnant to do so, and later make reproduction safer for all of our future generations. Why are you reacting with horror to this? Are you also horrified by regular IVF? What is the difference? ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319/9 "2023-07-21T13:55:16Z")
With the worlds population bursting at the seams I am indifferent to the plight of those who cannot make their own babies. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319/10 "2023-07-21T14:11:51Z")
> [@chela](#): > > With the worlds population bursting at the seams I am indifferent to the plight of those who cannot make their own babies That’s pretty blind to demographic trends. China had the same attitude during their big population boom; now they’re predicted to lose half their population in the mext 30 years. Anyways, the end goal would be to do this for as many pregnancies as possible, so we can take advantage of genetic screening. That’s the real benefit of this tech - increasing access to IVF and making the process much safer. And THAT isn’t important because it’s a barrel of laughs - it’s important because it could prevent immense amounts of human suffering in future generations. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319/11 "2023-07-21T15:15:10Z")
I expect it will succeed. Maybe not this particular attempt, but someone somewhere sometime is going to figure out how to get sperm from biological females, and eggs from biological males. After that, someone somewhere sometime is going to figure out how to incubate human embryos in an artificial womb. And after that, we can send robot starships with the ingredients of human life to populate the galaxy, even if it takes thousands of years per voyage! ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319/12 "2023-07-21T15:24:49Z")
I didn’t read a single line about preventing genetic diseases. I may have missed it. The articles main topic was the benefits to same sex parents to produce biological children of their own. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319/13 "2023-07-21T18:30:11Z")
> [@chela](#): > > I didn’t read a single line about preventing genetic diseases. I may have missed it The article was basically an interview with the company, that pitched their product (and yes their sales pitch is about same sex or infertile couples), coupled with interviews with critics. So that wasn’t the focus of the article. But an inherent benefit to IVF (unless you’re an idiot and decide to skip it for no reason) is the PGT - Preimplementation Genetic Test. The lab already has your fertilized eggs out in a dish - why on Earth would the eggs chosen for implementation NOT be screened for genetic diseases? The cheaper and more available this tech becomes, the better. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2023, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319/14 "2023-07-22T22:39:12Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Why are you reacting with horror to this? Are you also horrified by regular IVF? What is the difference? Of course I’m not horrified by regular IVF. This isn’t IVF. This is engineering human eggs in a lab. It’s not screening eggs created in a human body-- it’s the step prior to that: creating the eggs themselves. Yes, with ethical and moral guidelines that are followed rigorously by conscientious people, this technology could be a wonderful thing. I do not have that much faith in human nature when something comes along that people will pay anything and do anything to have access to. Maybe I’m wrong. I hope so. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2023, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319/15 "2023-07-22T23:13:03Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This is engineering human eggs in a lab. It’s not screening eggs created in a human body-- it’s the step prior to that: creating the eggs themselves. That makes it sound so much more dramatic than it actually is. They aren’t building human eggs out of Soylent Green. They’re taking stem cells, that already have the capacity to turn into eggs (that’s where the eggs of every woman on the planet came from) and enabling them to go through that same process outside of the body. There’s nothing mystical or special about Gameteogenesis, any more than fertilization itself. Whether it happens in an ovary or in a lab really doesn’t matter. What harm, specifically, are you afraid that this technology would bring about? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2023, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319/16 "2023-07-23T13:18:15Z")
Apologies, but I’m not interested in going down that long road… ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2023, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/startup-aims-to-make-lab-grown-human-eggs/987319/17 "2023-07-23T14:03:29Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Apologies, but I’m not interested in going down that long road…. Got it - so it’s bad, but not for any _reason_, it’s just bad, mmmkay? > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > tell me: am I overreacting? Yes.