Unlimited human eggs 'potential' for fertility treatment

This article caught my attention because today in biology 30 we were discussing the accepted knowledge that oocytes or eggs cells (the female gametes involved in sexual reproduction) are non-renewable - that women are born with all of the eggs that they will ever have. According to the article however, a study performed on the stem cells found in adult women has revealed that the reproductive pool of female gametes may be renewable (outside of the body), alike to male sperm cells (in the body). The process of isolating the stem cells involves the identification of a protein called DDX4, unique to these cells. The majority of testing thus far has been performed on mice due to the legal and moral implications involved with research on human eggs, but scientists are hopeful and perceive this discovery as a landmark should their success continue. The potential this holds for advancements in the field of infertility treatment is groundbreaking, and could impact the lives of women undergoing in vitro fertilization and other means of conquering infertility, everywhere.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17152413

Research into the possible reproduction of egg cells in women is certainly exciting for women who are, for whatever reason, unable conceive children in a natural manner. However, as Belinda said, with the legal and moral implications involved, even if researchers deemed it safe and possible for women to increase their fertility in this way the government would probably place many restrictions on the procedure and make it extremely difficult for these women to utilize. Also, it would likely be very expensive which might make couples apprehensive about using this procedure to increase fertility.

It definitely provides women with another opportunity to have children. It’s quite interesting to see something that scientists thought for years was accurate, be disproven. To be able to regenerate a female’s gametes is great news for women having problems conceiving. With the possibility of an unlimited number of eggs, it will provide the opportunity for women to have babies from their own eggs and not another woman’s eggs. Even though clinical use of the cells is still far off, I expect it will eventually happen. As mentioned there would be ethical and legal concerns. In my personal opinion I wouldn’t agree with experimenting on fertilized eggs/embryos because that’s denying someone the right to a life. It’s fine to use technology and research to help overcome fertility issues, but not to the extent where a potential person wouldn’t be able to grow and be born and live.