Utah Startup Claims Its Lab-Grown Sperm Can Produce Embryos, in Potential Fertility Breakthrough

A Utah-based startup called Paterna Biosciences claims it has successfully grown mature human sperm from spermatogonial stem cells in the laboratory — and has already used that lab-grown sperm to produce what it describes as healthy-looking human embryos. If verified, the breakthrough would represent the most significant advance in reproductive medicine since intracytoplasmic sperm injection was introduced over 30 years ago.

The company's cofounder, Dr. Alexander Pastuszak, a urologist and associate professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine, said the team "figured out the molecular programming for spermatogenesis" and built an in vitro platform to replicate the process. The key was identifying the specific growth factors and molecular signals that guide stem cells through the complex journey of becoming mature sperm.

Dr. Larry Lipshultz, a Baylor College urologist and male reproductive health specialist, told Wired the development is "huge" because "people didn't understand, or had never figured out, what growth factors you have to supply to these cells to get them to become mature sperm."

However, significant caveats apply. Paterna's findings have not been published in a peer-reviewed journal or subjected to outside review. That matters because at least two previous claims of lab-grown sperm — one by French company Kallistem in 2015 and another retracted from a journal in 2009 — were later challenged or discredited. The field has a history of premature announcements.

Paterna expects the procedure to cost between $5,000 and $12,000 — cheaper than the $15,000 to $30,000 typically charged for a single IVF cycle. The company was among ten life science companies accepted into the Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University MedTech Accelerator program last year, where it received the Disruption Award.

What This Means For You: If you or someone you know is dealing with male infertility, this could eventually be transformative — but it's not available yet, and the science needs independent verification. The cost projection of $5,000-$12,000 would make it more accessible than current IVF options, but the final price will likely depend on insurance coverage and whether private equity gets involved in scaling the technology.