Heather Had 2 Mommies. Now She’ll Have THREE. Thanks, Science!
Already, Heather has two moms; one biological, the other is mommy’s “special partner.” But through the miracle of science, one day we might have Heathers with two biological mommies, plus the hanger-on. How?
Scientists have managed to rip the DNA out of a donor egg, then implant the egg with another mother’s genetic muck, and then put a male’s sperm inside the whole thing. So far, they’re only doing it with monkeys, and only because they want to fight off genetic diseases while maintaining biological ties. “The U.S. experiment, reported today in the journal Nature, involved researchers at the Oregon National Primate Research Centre,” reports The Daily Mail. “They took an egg cell from a mother carrying a mitochondrial disease and removed its nuclear DNA. This was then transferred into a second, healthy egg, whose own nuclear DNA had been removed. The resulting ‘hybrid’ eggs contained nuclear DNA from the mother and fully-functioning mitochondrial DNA from the donor, and produced apparently healthy baby monkeys.”
Naturally, there are naysayers, who get choked up about playing god. Us? We’re just happy to see a way for kids to have two biological moms — who don’t even have to be gay for each other. Think on that!
But does it answer this theological question?:
Swish! Hooray for lesbian partners who want to have kids.
That book cover almost looks like Heather is being chased through everlasting fire by a hound of Hell.
This is really exciting. I haven’t heard any news stories about three-parent fertilization for years. We’re one step closer to Ian R. Macleod’s “Breathmoss.”
@Kaye: Nice call on that one! Great story!
Since when do mothers produce “a male’s sperm?”
I wonder if you put a male’s nuclear DNA in the egg instead if you could have two daddies?
@ksu499: HAHAHA EXACTLY!