Scientists have managed to make a breakthrough by creating a life from same-sex parents by using stem cells and gene editing. Chinese Academy of Sciences researchers managed to produce healthy mice babies from two mothers. The scientists also informed that the two mother mice were healthy and went on to have their own babies. Although, it was a success with two mothers, it did not work when tried with male mice. The babies died within days after they were born. The findings of this study are published in the scientific journal Cell Stem Cell. Mice With Human Brains Created for Studying Cure of Neurological Disorders.

With the help of same-sex parents, scientists were able to produce 29 live mice from 210 embryos. All of these offsprings had a normal growth and even gave birth to their own babies. The main purpose of carrying out such a study was to find out why only mammals have sex. “We have made several findings in the past by combining reproduction and regeneration, so we tried to find out whether more normal mice with two female parents, or even mice with two male parents, could be produced using haploid embryonic stem cells with gene deletions," said co-senior author Dr Qi Zhou. NASA Has Sent 20 Mice in Space to Study if Humans Can Live on Mars. 

Check the Pictures of Healthy Mice Babies of Same-Sex Parents

In the case of mammals, some paternal and maternal genes shut off as the sperm develops. With the lack of certain genetic material, either from the mother or father, the child can get abnormalities. In the case of these bi-maternal mice, the team of researchers used haploid embryonic stem cells (ESCs), containing half the normal number of chromosomes and DNA from each parent. But they also had to edit a set of genetic instructions to make the genes compatible. The same approach was more complicated when it came to double-dad experiment.

Does this in any way mean same-sex parents can have babies by sexual reproduction? Well, not right now but it could be possible in the long run. Dr Lovell-Badge was quoted to the BBC, "Even with two mothers I'm not convinced they're normal and the success rate is pretty low. It is not something I'd hope anyone would contemplate."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 12, 2018 10:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).