Mouse Created From All-Female DNA

April 21 -- Researchers have created a mouse born from all-female DNA, raising the question: If female mammals can reproduce on their own, will males become obsolete?

A few plants, insects and reptiles are capable of male-free reproduction in a process known as parthenogenesis, from the Greek meaning "virgin birth." Via parthenogenesis, a female's egg is able to grow into a new organism without any fertilization from the male.

But mammals generally require sexual reproduction that combines two sets of DNA — one copy from the mother and one from the father. Although male and female DNA are very similar, they have chemical signals that distinguish them and an embryo usually will not develop properly if it does not sense the presence of both.

Until now, that is. In order to create a mouse with all-female parentage, researchers at Japan's Tokyo University and South Korea's National University College of Medicine in Seoul, "tricked" the embryo into believing it contained both male and female DNA by knocking out the gene that marked one strand as "female." With the "female" gene removed, the embryo interpreted the second strand of female DNA as male DNA.

The mouse, named Kaguya, grew to healthy adulthood and now has offspring of her own conceived naturally with a male mouse. The findings were published in today's edition of the journal Nature

Men No Longer Needed?

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So does all this mean males will go the way of the dinosaur? Not likely, experts say.

While it might be possible for two women to reproduce using these techniques, practical application would be extremely difficult.

"Sure, it's theoretically possible to get rid of men," quips David Magnus, an assistant professor of pediatrics and co-director of the Center of Bioethics at Stanford University in California. "With all the sperm saved up in sperm banks, we probably could get rid of them now."

But Magnus points out the technology to create a human Kaguya is a long way off and may not be possible at all.