The ability of pluripotent stem to develop into any of the cell types in the human body has meant that it was only a matter of time before scientists would try to transform them into human gametes. Up to now though it has not been possible to do so. Nevertheless a 2016 book written by Henry Greely speculated that in twenty to forty years most people in developed countries will cease reproduction through sex, using sex exclusively for pleasure, and instead will rely on reproduction through pluripotent stem cell-derived gametes. This paper will offer a different perspective. After describing the process through which human pluripotent stem cells might eventually be coaxed into gametes, it will show why the use of pluripotent stem cell-derived gametes for reproductive purposes would present significant safety, ethical, and regulatory challenges.

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多能干细胞是否提供了一条新的生殖途径？

多能干细胞能够发育成人体任何一种细胞类型，这意味着科学家们尝试将它们转化为人类配子只是时间问题。到目前为止，虽然还不可能这样做。然而，亨利·格里利 (Henry Greely) 在 2016 年写的一本书中推测，在二十到四十年内，发达国家的大多数人将停止通过性进行生育，将性完全用于享乐，而是依靠多能干细胞衍生的配子进行生育。本文将提供一个不同的视角。在描述人类多能干细胞最终可能被诱导成配子的过程后，它将说明为什么将多能干细胞衍生的配子用于生殖目的会带来重大的安全、伦理和监管挑战。