In 30 years time women could conceive at any age and infertility could be eradicated, say scientists.
Woman will soon be able to give birth at the age of 100 due to advances in fertility treatment, scientists have predicted.
Experts say advances in germ cell technology in which skin cells are used to create sperm and eggs and then combined to make human embryos will soon allow women to start a family at any time in their lives.
The technology is still to be developed, but biologists believe that treatments using cells from skin called induced pluripotent stem cells could replace IVF.
Parents would then be able to choose a so-called 'designer' baby, selecting their perfect child based on characteristics such as hair colour and height to intelligence and disease-free genes.
The forecast, reported in Nature, were made by leading scientists who were asked to anticipate advances in reproduction by 2038 to mark the 30th birthday of Louise Brown, the world's first test-tube baby.
Biologist, Davor Solter, of the Institute of Biology in Singapore, said:
'The goals will remain the same in that we'll be trying to give children to those who can't have them and remove children from those who don't want them. I think IVF has gone about as far as it can. Next I expect that germ cells, sperm and eggs, will be successfully derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) - cells that have the potential to develop into any of the body's cell types. It will be possible to make iPS cells from skin cells, to make germ cells from these, and then combine them to make human embryos. It means every person regardless of age will be able to have children- newborn children could have children and 100-year olds could have children.........It could easily happen in the next 30 years.'
Other steps forward that are envisaged in the next 30 years include gestation taking place in an artificial womb, low-cost IVF treatment being made available at £50 a cycle and more controversially the creation of embryos for experiments.
In the coming years, scientists also believe that people will be freezing cells from an early age to avoid diseases as they get older.
Writing in Nature journal, Zev Rosenwaks, director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility in New York said:
'I see the technology going towards possible eradication of infertility altogether........I think we'll be able to generate sperm and eggs for anybody.'
But IVF pioneer Alan Trounson who leads the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine in San Francisco said:
'There will be concerns raised over whether the fertile period should be extended beyond its natural point. I think people should be given the choice.'
Pro-life campaigners have raised concerns about the prospect of extending the body's natural fertility period into old age.
July 2008
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