IVG uses stem cells — the biological clay that can form every body part — to build sex cells, which in humans are sperm and eggs. If successful, the technique could solve infertility due to age, cancer, or various disorders, which today affects tens of millions of people. It could also stretch the possibilities for genetic kinship and nudge biology to match the ever-evolving concept of a nuclear family. Same-sex partners could both be genetically related to their children — a woman could make sperm, a man an egg. People who are transgender could make sex cells that match their identity, rather than their biology. A single woman could have a child with herself. The science is still in early stages, but so far the basic concept has worked, more or less, in live mice and in human cells in a petri dish. A handful of labs across the world hope it’ll also work in people.
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