British scientists are claiming to have made a breakthrough in treating infertility in men – by creating sperms from embryonic stem cells. It may be the future of infertility treatment in men.

Karim Nayernia, the lead researcher, Newcastle University, is hopeful that the technique will help infertile men to father biological children. The team earlier succeeded in using the technique to produce baby mice.

The basic principle behind the new development is the ability of stem cells to adapt. It can replace any cell in our body. This property of stem cell is already exploited for repairing other body organs like brain, heart, pancreas and blood vessels.

However, some experts in the field are challenging the discovery. They feel that this is just in theory and doubt the claim of the team that they actually created sperm cells. Some others are saying that the sperms cells developed by the team are not normal.

Nayernia refutes these allegations. He said that the sperms created displayed all the characteristics of sperm. Moreover, the idea behind this study is to explore the possibilities and to throw open the research potential of the topic.

A stem cell expert, Robin Lovell-Badge, National Institute of Medical Research, said that despite contradictory claims, the study might be a breakthrough in stem cell research.

As British law prohibits fertilizing lab-bred sperm, Nayernia claims that his hands are tied in the issue. This makes it impossible for the team to proceed further and prove the success of their study beyond doubt. Nayernia said that in future also they would stop at developing sperms and refrain from fertilizing them to create embryos.

A section of the lawmakers favor amending the law to help further research in the subject, as this finding has the potential to solve infertility problems.

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