Summary: > The generation of genomically stable and functional oocytes has great potential for preserving fertility and restoring ovarian function. It remains

Summary: > The generation of genomically stable and functional oocytes has great potential for preserving fertility and restoring ovarian function. It remains elusive whether functional oocytes can be generated from adult female somatic cells through reprogramming to germline-competent pluripotent stem cells (gPSCs) by chemical treatment alone. Here, we show that somatic granulosa cells isolated from adult mouse ovaries can be robustly induced to generate gPSCs by a purely chemical approach, with additional Rock inhibition and critical reprogramming facilitated by crotonic sodium or acid. These gPSCs acquired high germline competency and could consistently be directed to differentiate into primordial-germ-cell-like cells and form functional oocytes that produce fertile mice. Moreover, gPSCs promoted by crotonylation and the derived germ cells exhibited longer telomeres and high genomic stability like PGCs in vivo, providing additional evidence supporting the safety and effectiveness of chemical induction, which is particularly important for germ cells in genetic inheritance. In other words, they've managed to turn a somatic cell (i.e., not a sperm or egg) into an oocyte (i.e., egg cell) purely via chemical means, and these oocytes could be fertilized via IVF to produce fertile mice. If this can be replicated in humans, this means that: 1. Women past the age of menopause can have children (albeit via surrogacy). 2. https://www.gwern.net/Embryo-selection https://www.gwern.net/Embryo-selection becomes much more feasible than before, since both sperm and eggs can be produced in large quantities.