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LONDON (BBC)
"Baby Grady" monkeys give hope to children with cancer to procreate
Scientists say they've made a leap forward that will help children with cancer to maintain their fertility, thanks to a little monkey named Grady.
Cancer treatment damages testicles in infected children and one-third of survivors are infertile at puberty.
Bibi Gradi is the first monkey born with frozen samples of his father's testicles.
Scientists expect this technique to be used in the near future to treat patients.
Cancer patients are currently being treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which can destroy their ability to have children.
Women and girls can freeze their eggs for future pregnancy after cancer treatment.
Adult men can freeze their sperm, but this option is out of the question for children who have not yet reached puberty.
How was born Grady?
Scientists from the University of Pittsburgh and the National Institute for Children's Health and Human Development began their experiments with five male macaque monkeys.
As the monkeys have not yet arrived at puberty, their offspring have not yet been able to produce sperm.
The researchers removed my testicles from each monkey, cut them into small pieces and placed on the ice to preserve them.
The monkeys were unable to conceive after about a year and a half of the operation.
The refrigerated eunuchs were then wiped and injected under the skin of the monkey from which they were taken.
When the monkeys reached puberty, their testicular tissue matured and developed. "They discovered that there was sperm," said Professor Kyle O. Royg of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
These sperm were used to fertilize an egg and the result was Cat Grady.
What is the success of the experiment?
Eight parts of ectopic tissue started producing sperm after the arrival of puberty monkeys.
Researchers enriched 138 eggs using ICSI.
About four out of 10 fertilized eggs evolved into early-stage embryos.
About 11 of these embryos were planted in the uterus of macaque monkeys, only one of them having evolved to become a true carrier that allowed a monkey to be in good health.
Can this experience be applied to humans?
Scientists believe that the application of this experience to humans is imminent.
"After the success of the experiment on monkeys, which resulted in a healthy little monkey, we believe that this technique is ready to be applied to humans," said Professor Uruig.
But other researchers say that they want to see more successful experiments before making their first experiences with humans.
Testicular tissue has been frozen for some children treated for cancer, in hopes that someday science will give them the opportunity to have children.
Will it be safe?
The most important risk is that children will develop cancer again as a result of the experiment.
If the cancer cells are hidden in the testes, they will be frozen and reinserted into the child's body after the cancer treatment.
Doctors also want to make sure that the process does not affect the genetic material "DNA" stored in the sperm.
What do the experts think?
"I think it's a very important experience," said Dr. Susan Tyman of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
"It's a very exciting proof that it can really work, but there are other things I would like to see," she said.
"This monkey is healthy, which is wonderful, but I think we would like to see two more monkeys"
"I am optimistic that children who have frozen the tissues of their testicles will be able to use them in the future," she said.
"It's a very good study, a wonderful step forward, but it's important to remember that before we can apply it to humans, we need additional research to prove that It is safe and it can be applied in the same way to humans, "said Alan Pasey, a male professor at the University of Sheffield.
"I think we still have many years to do it," he said.
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