Overview

• Published Tuesday in Nature Communications, the study used somatic cell nuclear transfer to place a skin-cell nucleus into a donated human oocyte whose nucleus had been removed.
• An induced step dubbed mitomeiosis prompted the reconstructed eggs to discard extra chromosomes and become haploid, enabling fertilization in the lab.
• The team produced 82 oocytes; after IVF fewer than 9% developed to the day‑6 blastocyst stage, and embryo culture was halted at that point.
• All embryos exhibited chromosomal abnormalities, and no pregnancy attempts were made, underscoring major technical hurdles in chromosome pairing and segregation.
• If eventually refined, the approach could expand options for people lacking viable gametes, though it currently depends on donor eggs and faces significant US regulatory barriers, including an FDA funding rider on embryo-manipulation trials.