Turning human skin into an egg cell sounds like science fiction, yet it just happened in a real lab! Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University (US) created egg-like cells from human skin cells and even managed to fertilise them. They were imperfectly developed, but this is a breakthrough for fertility treatments. Suddenly, questions about age, fertility, and the limits of biology appear in a very different light.

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The Quick Backstory You Need

So who’s behind this headline-grabbing work? A research team at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), led by reproductive biologist Shoukhrat Mitalipov, PhD, with Nuria Marti-Gutierrez, PhD, as the first author. Their study, published in Nature Communications (2025), centred on a simple but radical question: Is it possible to turn an everyday human skin cell into an egg?

And why take on something this ambitious? This can eventually become a viable option for those who can’t produce eggs, due to age, medical conditions, or have undergone treatments like chemotherapy.. The team also saw long-term potential for same-sex couples and individuals with premature ovarian insufficiency who want genetically related children.

What did the researchers actually do? They worked with 82 donor eggs, removed the natural nucleus from each one, and replaced it with the nucleus of a human skin cell. None of this was accidental or serendipitous; it was a deliberate, multi-year effort to advance reproductive biology.

How Did It Begin?

The method they used is called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), basically the same trick used to create Dolly the sheep. Here’s the simple version:

• Scientists take a donor egg.
• They remove the egg’s original nucleus.
• They insert the nucleus from a skin cell instead.

Sounds straightforward, until you remember this one annoying detail:

• A skin cell carries 46 chromosomes, but
• A proper egg must contain 23.

Without reducing that number, nothing works. To solve this, the team created something genuinely new, a process they named mitomeiosis.

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Mitomeiosis: The Odd Hybrid That Shouldn’t Exist, But Does

Mitomeiosis combines parts of mitosis (normal cell division) and meiosis (the division used to form eggs and sperm). Think of it as forcing the skin-cell nucleus to play by egg rules.

During this process, the cell actually drops half its chromosomes, something a skin cell would never do on its own. The researchers essentially convinced the nucleus to behave as if it belonged in an egg. This level of reprogramming simply hasn’t been seen in humans before.

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What Happened When They Tried Fertilising These Lab-Made Eggs?

The team created 82 reconstructed eggs. Here’s where things get interesting:

• These eggs were fertilised using standard IVF
• Around 9 per cent developed into early-stage embryos (blastocysts)
• But many had chromosomal abnormalities, meaning they’re nowhere near ready for real reproduction

Still, for a first attempt, getting any of them to develop at all is a major sign that the method isn’t just theoretical. It is surely in an early stage, but remarkable, and definitely not ready for a clinic.

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Why Fertility Experts Are Paying Attention

Even in its imperfect state, this research opens doors that previously didn’t exist. Women facing age-related infertility, for instance, often struggle because egg quality drops sharply with time, but having the option to grow healthy eggs from their own skin cells could transform fertility care. Cancer survivors, whose ovarian tissue may be damaged by chemotherapy, could also bypass that barrier entirely.

Then there’s the long-term possibility for same-sex couples: in theory, even a man’s skin cell could eventually be reprogrammed into an egg, shifting what family-building could look like. Beyond individuals, the scientific community also stands to benefit. Human eggs are incredibly scarce for research, which limits our understanding of early development and the causes of genetic disorders. Lab-grown eggs could finally change that.

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Has Anything Like This Happened Before?

In animals, yes. One of the most famous examples is a 2016 (Nature Coverage) mouse study in which scientists converted mouse skin cells into eggs and ultimately produced healthy pups. There’s also a 2013 (Science) paper showing how mouse pluripotent cells could become egg cells step-by-step.

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The Big Caveats

Despite the excitement surrounding this breakthrough, it’s essential to take a step back and examine its limitations. Many of the early embryos created from these lab-made eggs showed chromosomal abnormalities, which makes the process far from safe or predictable.

Add to that the enormous ethical and regulatory questions, who gets to decide how far this technology should go, and where the boundaries should be? These aren’t conversations that wrap up quickly. And even if the science continues moving forward, most experts suggest we’re still at least 10-15 years away from anything remotely usable in real fertility treatment.

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Ultimately, this discovery occupies a unique space where science feels both disruptive and profoundly human. Turning a skin cell into an egg doesn’t solve infertility today, but it expands what we imagine could be possible tomorrow. And sometimes, that shift in imagination is where the biggest breakthroughs begin.

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