Experts believe the discovery will lead to the routine manufacture of human eggs for infertile couples, avoiding the need to rely on egg donation
from fertile women.
Dr Geeta Nargund, head of reproductive medicine at St George’s Hospital, London, said: “This discovery opens up enormous possibilities for the future. It would be a transforming development” The discovery has stirred controversy among some experts, who say there may be ethical concerns.
However, Professor Eliezer Shalev, of Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, northern Israel, who led the research, said: “Doctors have been looking for an alternative to egg donation for a long time.
“We hope it will soon be possible to grow as many eggs as needed.”
Amniotic cells develop at the early stages of the life of the foetus and are known to be able to change into other cell types.
So far eggs grown from amniotic sac cells are immature, at the stage of germ cells found in the ovaries of girls before they reach puberty.
Scientists have now started using hormone stimulating chemicals to develop these cells into mature eggs capable of fertilisation by sperm.
Prof Shalev, whose work was published in the journal Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, believes it may be possible to grow mature eggs in two to three years.
A lot of animal cloning stopped because of birth defects. Plenty of frozen embryos go unused
“We think that the vast majority of women would be more than happy to donate the amniotic sac, rather than it being thrown away.” Donor eggs have been available for more than 20 years but the process is fraught with problems and demand often outstrips supply.
The Human Fertilisation Embryology Authority has been trying to increase the number of donors by tripling the compensation it offers.
However, Prof Lawrence Shaw, a leading London fertility specialist, said: “There might be ethical issues.
“There could be an argument that the amniotic membranes belong to the baby they surrounded. This would have to be tested in court.”
Josephine Quintavalle, of Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said: “Growing human eggs by artificial means out of the body is a big move and I would be worried about the risks of defects or abnormalities.
“A lot of animal cloning stopped because of birth defects. Plenty of frozen embryos go unused.”