Science is close to making human sperm from human skin cells. How will we ensure that all reproduction is voluntary?

It was a report on NPR today.

A scientist that is an expert in reproductive problems has taken human skin cells, treated them to make them T-cells, and injected them in the reproductive organs of male mice. Rudimentary human sperm were created.

Now, all of that sounds kind of creepy/cool in that she’s making human sperm in mice, but has the potential to end-run around infertility in men.

But wait. Here’s the interesting part.

How do you prevent people from getting access to celebrity cells and selling celebrity sperm in clandestine fertility clinics?

What about the dead? Could a 22yo trophy bride create an heir after the 90 died following 2 years of marriage?

What’s to keep that nut in North Korea from inseminating 100’s, 1,000’s, 10,000’s of women?

If you kept a sliver of your son/husband before he went to war, you could still have his kids/grandkids if he was killed in action. If cells were retained at birth, parents would be guaranteed grandkids, for that matter.

If it uses skin cells, couldn’t lesbians literally reproduce?

Boggles the mind.

Sorry the details are so long, but I think it is a really fascinating topic!