Synthetic Gametes & Y: The Last Man

So I finally finished reading Y: The Last Man the other day, and I was completely blown away. The basic premise behind the epic 60-issue comic book series is this: every living being with a Y chromosome suddenly dies in an instant, except for escape artist Yorick Brown and his pet monkey Ampersand (&!). Infrastructure collapses; most of the world’s political leaders are now dead. In the chaos that ensues, the surviving women struggle to reorganize society and must now cope with the fact that humanity is doomed to extinction.

Being the titular “last man” on Earth, Yorick has now become a valuable commodity. Every woman in the world is looking for him — some see him as the key to preventing the end of the human race while others (i.e. the ultra-feminist Daughters of the Amazon) want to fully purge the “aberration” of the Y chromosome. All he really wants is to get to Australia and find his girlfriend, to whom he proposed the instant the so-called “Gendercide” hit. It’s the greatest unwanted harem ever. So begins the thrill-ride that is Y: The Last Man.

Interesting plot? Check. Writer Brian Vaughan really brings the post-apocalyptic setting to life with an immense attention to detail as well as a quirky cast of characters. For such dark subject matter, Y: The Last Man also manages to be LOL-funny. Hilarious one-liners (“Um, I may not speak Hebrew, but it’s pretty clear when you’re talking about me. All I hear is, gibberish gibberish Yorick gibberish.“), clever pop culture references, and oh-so-memorable conversations permeate the entire series. Behold:

Hero (Yorick’s sister): Last thing I remember is those gay conquistadors knocking me out.
Beth II (pregnant with Yorick’s child): They’re not conquistadors, they’re Swiss guard, private army of Vatican City, used to be all guys, but they’ve obviously relaxed their admission standards since the plague.
Hero: Can’t believe I got taken down by a girl with a stick.
Beth II: It’s called a halberd, Renaissance weapon. And don’t feel bad, they held off the Nazis with those things back in ‘43.
Hero: Yeah, you’re definitely the kind of girl my brother would bone.

You can download the entire series here. Scroll down (or Ctrl+F) to “Download” and you’ll find Mediafire links for every single issue… some of the later ones may require a comic reader program to view. Mac users, I recommend Simple Comic. Even Hurley from Lost reads Y (in Spanish!)… why don’t you?

Shameless plug aside, let’s get to today’s topic (and it’s related to Y, somewhat). Apparently, scientists led by Dr. Renee Reijo Pera of Stanford have found a way to create synthetic gametes. That is, via stem cells, it is now possible to produce artificial sperm and egg cells… the catch? Both gametes can be created from either sex. What this means: infertile men/women can produce gametes, but more strikingly, there arises the possibility that same-sex couples will finally be able to have biological children! On the downside, this only adds fuel to the fire with respect to the stem cell research debate. Homosexuals and godless scientists in the same boat? It’s like a blasphemy party! For a more comprehensive summary, check out this article from The Independent.

Ignore for a second how terribly generic this image is and instead consider the implications of these discoveries. Even more disturbing is the fact that these advancements have theoretically paved the way for human cloning. If you think about it: with this new process, it should be possible to obtain both a sperm and egg cell from the same person. Holy. Shit. Yeah, the possibilities are really quite frightening.

Perhaps I’m horrendously misinterpreting the scientists’ findings, but even so, the moral and social repercussions of these findings are endless. I think I’m becoming more and more cognizant of how advanced science has become… things that were once the fantastic contents of sci-fi are now reality or at least soon to be. In the words of Mr. McCaughey, “If you can survive the next fifty years, you will be able to live forever (or, at least until the end of the world).” This once-outlandish statement actually sounds like it could be possible… things to think about.