In recent years, work in mice identifying ovarian stem cells has been chipping away at the dogma that mammals are born with a full complement of eggs in their ovaries. Now researchers from Harvard Medical School report a similar population of cells in ovaries from adult women, which can generate oocytes in vitro and in xenografted follicles.
If replicated, the findings, published yesterday (February 26) in Nature Medicine, could have far-reaching implications for fertility treatments.
“These are exciting findings,” said Hugh Taylor, who studies the genetic basis of endometriosis at Yale University and was not involved in the study. They suggest that one day scientists may be able to turn off the biological clock, allowing women to delay pregnancy without worrying about “aging eggs,” Taylor ...
