Making eggs and sperm from ordinary cells would upend reproduction — it has produced healthy pups in mice, but a safe human version does not yet exist.

Sources: [1][2]

Evidence standingPreclinical
Key facts
Portal
Reproduction & Development
Stage
Preclinical (mouse), early human components
Evidence
Preclinical
Reversible
Irreversible
Reviewed
May 2026
Read time
7 min
Contents

Page status

Human gamete maturation unsolved · Consent and selection concerns

Key takeaways

  • IVG turns stem cells into eggs or sperm, decoupling reproduction from existing gametes.
  • Whole cycles have worked in mice; human cells have reached only intermediate stages.
  • It could enable same-sex genetic parenthood and mass embryo screening — with heavy ethical stakes.

Mechanism

In vitro gametogenesis coaxes pluripotent stem cells through the steps that normally occur in the body to become functional eggs or sperm. In mice, researchers have completed the full female germ line in a dish and produced live, fertile offspring.

Human IVG is far harder: human cells have been pushed only to early germ-cell-like and immature stages, and the long, tightly regulated maturation of human gametes has not been reproduced.

Why it matters and where it stops

If it worked in humans, IVG could let people with no viable gametes have genetically related children, enable same-sex genetic parenthood, and — by making eggs abundant — supercharge embryo screening and editing.

That same power is the concern. Abundant embryos amplify selection pressures, and gametes made from a stray skin cell raise consent problems. Safety is unestablished, and most jurisdictions do not permit clinical use.

Open questions

  • Can human gametes be matured safely and faithfully in vitro?
  • How should abundant lab-made embryos change the rules on selection and editing?

Watchlist

Signals that would move this entry along the evidence scale.

Human oocyte maturationEpigenetic fidelityGovernance of lab-made gametes

Key terms

References

  1. Full female germ line in vitro (mouse). Hikabe et al., Nature, 2016
    Produced fertile mouse offspring from stem-cell-derived eggs.
  2. Human oogonia from iPSCs. Yamashiro et al., Science, 2018
    Reached early human germ-cell stages, short of mature gametes.

Cite this page

Future Human Atlas. “In Vitro Gametogenesis.” Last reviewed May 2026. https://future-human-wiki.vercel.app/articles/in-vitro-gametogenesis

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