Over the past decade, I have made some bold predictions about the future of sex. One that's been easy is that people will still be having sex for years to come, but for different reasons: they simply won't do it so much to make babies. That's not to say that making babies will become obsolete, but, rather, that technology will change the ways we do it. There could be a much safer and easier way to reproduce and sex as we know it could end.
Until about a century ago, humans always created embryos and babies in the same old, largely random way - through sex. Then some started using artificial insemination and, 45 years ago, in vitro fertilisation. Important as these technologies have been, they still involve human eggs and sperm. Thanks to stem cell technologies, though, that will shift.
The step change will be in vitro gametogenesis (IVG) - turning skin cells into induced pluripotent stem cells, then turning those into eggs and sperm. IVG is tremendously exciting to millions of couples, but it does raise some tricky questions. For example, if we could make eggs from skin cells, 90-year-olds could become genetic parents. So could nine-year-olds, miscarried foetuses or people who have been dead for years, but whose cells were frozen.
Also consider this: what if we could ma sperm from women's skin cells, or eggs from men's? It could soon be a reality. In 2023, Japanese scientists announced that they had made eggs from a male mouse's skin cells and, using 'normal' mouse sperm, had produced mouse pups.
Denne historien er fra New Year 2024-utgaven av BBC Science Focus.
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Denne historien er fra New Year 2024-utgaven av BBC Science Focus.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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How Light's 'Secret Code' Reveals the Story of the Cosmos- The starlight we can see tells us a lot about the Universe, but it's the parts we can't see that contain the biggest revelations
When you see photos from a modern telescope of a planet, nebula or distant galaxy, it's easy to be dazzled by the detail. But what astronomers get really excited about is a property of the light our eyes can't see: the spectrum. This secret code embedded in starlight can tell us not only what a celestial object is made of, but also the story of our cosmic past.Back in the 18th century, scientists discovered that each substance produced its own pattern of colours when it was burning. It turns out that each element, when heated, emits light at certain colours specific to that substance.
Major Stonehenge Discovery Deepens Mystery Around Ancient Monument - New findings suggest a key six-tonne stone came from over 450 miles north of the circle
Cue the conspiracy theories: new research reveals that one of Stonehenge's central and larger megaliths came neither from England, nor Wales, but from the far northeast of Scotland - and we don't know how it got there. Experts think the six-tonne altar stone must have been dragged or floated at least 750km (466 miles) south to complete the prehistoric monument.
Do We Finally Know How the Egyptian Pyramids Were Built? - A number of breakthrough studies are beginning to paint a picture of how these wonders of the world were built, but much of the story still remains a mystery...
A number of breakthrough studies are beginning to paint a picture of how these wonders of the world were built, but much of the story still remains a mystery...How the Egyptian pyramids were built has long been a mystery. Constructed as tombs for the pharaohs over 4,000 years ago, more than 100 of them remain. The largest one, the Great Pyramid of Giza, was originally 147m tall (482ft). It's made up of about 2.3 million stone blocks, each weighing between 2.5 and 15 tonnes, and would have had to be transported to the building site and lifted into place with techniques available at the time. To put this into context, it's akin to lifting a double-decker London bus to the top of St Pauls Cathedral a few million times.
An Artificial Heart Inspired by Plumbing - Mechanical circulation could revolutionise transplant design and reduce waiting lists
Mechanical circulation could revolutionise transplant design and reduce waiting lists. In July, this artificial heart was successfully implanted, for the first time, into a patient with end-stage heart failure. Built by The Texas Heart Institute (THI) and BiVACOR, the replacement organ has been dubbed the Total Artificial Heart (TAH). Although, being an implant rather than transplant, it's designed to temporarily support patients while they wait for a real heart transplant.
CHANGE THE (BODY) CLOCKS
Why the end of British Summer Time can be a wake-up call for our circadian health
ARE OCTOPUSES SENTIENT?
If you've watched the Netflix documentary My Octopus Teacher or been lucky enough to encounter an octopus in the wild, you'll know there's something special about them.
THE MEXICAN MOLE LIZARD
Imagine what would happen if an earthworm, a lizard, a snake and a mole went on a night out, had too much too much tequila and let their guard down.
ECLIPSES ON DEMAND
Inside an unassuming building, behind a damp car park in Antwerp, Belgium, scientists are teaching two spacecraft to be dance partners for a performance that will take place in front of the Sun.
THE UNEXPECTED RETURN OF PNEUMATIC TUBES
Once a pioneering technology that revolutionised deliveries, pneumatic tubes had all but disappeared. Now they're back and enjoying a resurgence
LIVING FOSSILS
FOR SOME CREATURES ALIVE TODAY TIME HAS ALMOST STOOD STILL. MEET THE 'LIVING FOSSILS' THAT GIVE US A GLIMPSE INTO LIFE IN THE DISTANT PAST
