Posted on 02/07/2006 9:39:15 AM PST by mlc9852
Scientists have tricked male fish cells that were destined to become sperm into switching sex and becoming eggs instead.
The technique could one day be used to quickly produce animals with desired traits, speed up breeding programs and help repopulate dwindling populations of endangered species or creating sushi on demand, the researchers said.
The finding is detailed in the Feb. 7 issue of the journal for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Sexually indifferent cells
Scientists have long known that some fish are able to switch their sex, either spontaneously or when exposed to steroids. This led them to suspect that a subset of the population of cells in male fish that normally become sperm, called spermatogonia, might be stem cells that have the potential to become either sperm or eggs.
To test their hypothesis, the researchers isolated spermatogonia from the testes of adult rainbow trout and transplanted them into newly hatched trout of both sexes. In male hatchlings, the transplanted cells developed into sperm, while in females they developed into eggs
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Creeps me out when they start playing weird games with the food.
Mondo Bizarro ping.
Oh boy! This is great news! No China can stop throwing girls off the roofs and under the trains!
If we could trck them into producing a generation of only males they'd be unable to breed :)
What do you care if you eat a boy fish instead of a female? Are you that crazy for cavier?
I'm not eating oysters! Hey, the male salmon will lose their impetus for spawning... ;P
No = now.
Good news for those that demand their sushi NOW!
Honestly I think messing with this stuff stands a reasonable chance of messing with us once we consume the fish and potentially could cause cancer.
I'd far rather go out and fish and know that whatever fish were destined to be they ended up being. (hopefully dinner).
Now that you mention it...yes. Ikura, please!
Probably that FSH hormone you hear about...
x, are you messing with me or do you think male catfish have more whiskers?! Hmmm, eating male fish...is this why women over 50 have unwanted facial hair??
Okay, overall, seriously, I have a problem with 'engineered food' even though I know it's coming.
DARK SKIES! How you B? Tell me more about this loverly cavier and why it's the best...please?
All's well at this end. However, I am a sushi addict...and I don't even want to recover.
But I agree with you on engineered food. Yuck!
I love the concept of engineered food (cheap, masive, capitalistic) but I'd like to know first that playing with you're food (which even grandma knows ain't good) isn't going to play with you.
So, for dessert, are we still having lady fingers?
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