Lab-grown sperm and eggs: ‘epigenetic’ reset in human cells paves the way

Researchers have discovered a protein that promotes an ‘epigenetic’ reset in human cells — a small but crucial step in their development into sperm or eggs. The epigenome affects whether genes are turned on or off, and helps to differentiate, for example, a brain cell from a liver cell. The cells in the study stopped developing further after epigenetic reprogramming, so before we can grow eggs and sperm in a dish.