The Emerging Field of In Vitro Gametogenesis: Perspectives in Social Science and Bioethics

The stem cell field of in vitro gametogenesis (IVG) aims to study and generate oocytes and spermatozoa in the laboratory from embryonic or induced pluripotent stem cells. This review provides an overview of this emerging field from a social science perspective, examining how research in the stem cell field of IVG sustains anticipations of social and ethical aspects of IVG as a research and clinical tool.

The field of IVG has reached a significant milestone for nonhuman animals with the generation of mouse oocytes and spermatozoa in vitro, resulting in the birth of healthy mice. In humans, the IVG model has led to the generation of precursor germ cells in vitro and a better understanding of the little-known process of germ cell development. IVG is sparking strong interest in the bioethics, media, and reproductive and regenerative medicine communities under the assumption that it will one day produce functional human gametes, and thus provide a reproductive option for infertile and LGBTQIA + people.

With the in vitro generation of mice born from IVG gametes and of human germ cell progenitors, IVG represents an important new field at the intersection of stem cell research, reproductive medicine, and kinship. Drawing on an ethnographic study of the field of IVG and feminist studies of reproduction, this review problematises the projection of in vitro-generated gametes as a medium through which future imaginaries around reproduction are constructed. By refocusing IVG in the present, it explores the implications of the technology as a model for studying germ cell development, infertility, cancer, and problematising family formation and kinship.