Hope or a "Challenge to God" - Creating Human Eggs from Skin: The Impact on Infertility Treatment and the "Post-Family" Era

1. The News of "Eggs from Skin" Stirred the World

"Human eggs were created from skin and developed into embryos."
Such headlines swept across the globe, filling social media timelines with astonishment, anxiety, and excitement.

An international research team, including Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), reported that they created functional eggs from human skin cells and fertilized some to develop into early embryos. This research was published in the scientific journal Nature Communications on September 30, 2025, and is noted for potentially transforming the future of infertility treatment.Nature

The children's science media Science News Explores also introduced this achievement in an easy-to-understand manner, summarizing that "even those without eggs or sperm are one step closer to creating reproductive cells from their own cells."Science News Explores

2. What the Research Team Actually Did

So, how did the researchers create "eggs from skin"?

1. Preparing Donated Human Eggs
   First, they prepared eggs donated by donors and removed their nuclei (the part containing DNA).Science News Explores

2. Transplanting the Nucleus of Skin Cells
   Next, they transplanted the nucleus of another person's skin cell into the empty egg. This created a "reconstructed egg" with that person's DNA. The nucleus of the skin cell contains 46 chromosomes, the same as normal somatic cells.Science News Explores

3. New Cell Division "Mitomeiosis"
   The problem is that eggs should naturally have "only 23 chromosomes." Therefore, the research team applied special stimulation and control to the reconstructed eggs to induce a new process of "reducing the chromosomes by half." This new division style, **"Mitomeiosis,"** is a combination of mitosis (somatic cell division) and meiosis (reduction division).Nature

4. Creating 82 Eggs, Some Developed into Early Embryos
   Using this method, 82 egg-like cells were created, some of which developed into embryos (blastocysts) on the sixth day after fertilization. However, the success rate was only about 9%, and most embryos showed abnormalities in the number and combination of chromosomes.SMC España

The researchers emphasize that this is still at the "proof of concept stage" and far from clinical application.

3. Not Yet a Technology for Making "Babies"

From the news alone, one might mistakenly think that "babies can now be made from skin," but at present, it is not at a level usable for pregnancy or childbirth.

• In many eggs and embryos,

  • there were too many chromosomes

  • or they were missing

  • or had incorrect combinations
    , among other abnormalities.Science News Explores

• All experiments with embryos were stopped on the sixth day, and further growth is not legally or ethically permitted.

• In the United States, clinical trials that could lead to pregnancy with embryos whose DNA has been manipulated are prohibited by law, and researchers estimate that it will not progress to the stage where "human babies" are born for at least the next 10 years.Science News Explores

Katsuhiko Hayashi, a reproductive biologist at Osaka University, who was not directly involved in this research, states, "The efficiency and safety are still low, and it is not something that can be used on humans immediately," while also evaluating it as "a significant breakthrough from which new technologies will likely emerge."Science News Explores

4. Who Could This Potentially Give Hope To?

Nevertheless, the reason this research has garnered global attention is because of the wide range of people it could potentially give hope to.

• Those who have reduced or no eggs

  • People with almost no eggs left due to aging or premature menopause

  • People who lost ovarian function due to cancer treatment (chemotherapy or radiation therapy)OHSU News

• Cases where people were previously unable to have their own eggs

  • In the future, male couples might create eggs from one partner's skin cells and fertilized eggs from the other's sperm

  • People unable to produce eggs due to chromosomal abnormalities might obtain eggs from other somatic cells

Science News Explores calls on the teen generation to consider the implications of this technology, suggesting that it offers the possibility for those without eggs or sperm to have children with their own DNA.Science News Explores

On the other hand, since this technology necessarily requires donor eggs, it differs in nature from other approaches that "create eggs from scratch" (such as complete egg production from iPS cells), and it is still unclear which will become mainstream.Science News Explores

5. The Split Between "Celebration" and "Fear" on Social Media

The social reaction to this news was more chaotic than the paper itself. On platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook, the following voices were prominent.Facebook

(1) Big Applause: A "Game Changer" for Infertility Treatment?

• "The day may come when we don't have to worry about eggs. Hope for all infertile couples!"

• "For those who lost ovaries due to cancer treatment, this is truly tear-jerking news."

Posts like these were numerous, especially from those involved in infertility treatment and their surroundings, with many comments reflecting a sense of "finally, we've come this far" and expectations. FemTech media and startup accounts also introduced this news as something that could fundamentally change IVF.FemTech World

(2) "Liberation from Women's Bodies" or...

On Facebook and other platforms, there were voices saying that this is a "cool day" when the reproductive burden is lifted from women's bodies, welcoming the ability to create eggs from skin as a technology that increases the freedom of women's life courses.Facebook

On the other hand, there are feminist concerns about how women would be treated socially if men could make children on their own.

(3) Strong Caution from Religious and Ethical Circles

Christian podcasts and newsletters discussed this topic with significant alarm, symbolizing it as a "Brave New World."AlbertMohler.com

• "Reproduction detached from marriage and sex further erodes the moral cliff."

• "Humanity is moving away from the reproductive order set by God."

Such narratives, along with discussions of "AI-driven automatic IVF" and other technologies, evoke a sense of apocalypse.

(4) A Dystopia Where "Children Are Made from Celebrities' Skin"?

Additionally, repeatedly pointed out in articles and expert comments is the concern that eggs might be made from skin cells taken without consent.Science News Explores

The idea that "theoretically, children of famous actors could be made from cells left on a café cup" stimulated both fear and curiosity among many social media users.

Of course, in reality,

• the success rate is extremely low with current technology

• ethical reviews and legal regulations stand in the way
  , so such a dystopia won't emerge immediately. Nonetheless, the themes of "consent in reproduction" and "ownership of genetic information" are being revisited in discussions sparked by this technology.Live Science

(5) The Usual Internet: Memes and Jokes

And naturally, in true internet fashion,

• "Now we can physically create our 'favorite's child'"

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