News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

infertile men may soon be able to father children with their own sperm – grown outside their bodies.

Researchers who successfully created mouse sperm in a lab dish said it held out the possibility of men no longer having to rely on donors.

The team, from Germany’s Munster University, harvested germ cells which form sperm in mammals and used agar jelly to create an environment similar to that found in the testicles. The trial was successfully replicated in Israel.

Leading NHS infertility consultant Stephen Gordon said: “This is an amazing development that could revolutionise fertility treatment and allow every man to be a natural father.”

Male infertility has risen over the last 50 years as sperm counts have fallen.

The German-Israeli team hopes to be ale to begin trials with human germ cells soon. The findings were published by science journal Nature.