# Merrick Smela: From Stem Cells to Eggs, Rewriting Fertility

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/galaxy-balance-7619530/merrick-smela-from-stem-cells-to-eggs-rewriting-fertility
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/galaxy-balance-7619530/merrick-smela-from-stem-cells-to-eggs-rewriting-fertility.md
Podcast: [Galaxy Balance](https://stenobird.com/podcast/galaxy-balance-7619530)
Published: 2026-02-09T22:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/d92a0edcda7b011a4fbe0086485243b23ed31b6f061bc0022b9bff821d6f8a5f/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiI2NzM2NTk5OC05NjA1LTQ3M2YtOGRlZi0xZjFmNzU0OWMzYzAiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiJjMGE0YjQ3Yi1iMmM5LTRjNjgtODhiNS0xYmFhM2EzNTJjODMiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OTBiYjRiMzM2NjY3MWFlZGQwZTZhMTEiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNjk4NGVhNjNmNTQ5NjA2M2Q0OGNlZWJhL2Nvcnktc21pdGhzLXN0dWRpby1sTktuWC1jb21wb3Nlci0yMDI2LTItNV9fMjAtNy0xNS5tcDMifQ==.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/galaxy-balance-7619530/episodes/merrick-smela-from-stem-cells-to-eggs-rewriting-fertility
Duration seconds: 4481

## Resource

What if human eggs could be made outside the body, safely, reliably, and at scale? 00:00 - Introduction to Merrick Smela and IVG technology 01:28 - Merrick’s scientific background and career path 03:07 - Inspiration from early stem cell research and career milestones 09:00 - How transcription factors and meiosis are driven in vitro 15:00 - Screening strategies for high-fidelity egg development 20:00 - Diversity and variability in high-throughput cell screening 27:32 - Commercialization and scaling of stem cell reprogramming 33:34 - Ensuring egg functionality and safety ahead of clinical trials 36:03 - Timeline for in vitro conception and embryo development 41:14 - Safety protocols including non-human primate studies 47:15 - Societal causes for declining fertility and OVEL’s potential impact 48:46 - Supporting older donors and age-related reproductive technology 50:52 - Opportunities for gay men and reproductive diversity 53:53 - Ethical and regulatory landscape for germline modifications 1:02:24 - How AI and machine learning accelerate research 1:05:22 - Science fiction’s influence on ethical biotech development 1:08:48 - Maintaining work-life balance amid groundbreaking research 1:12:25 - Advice for young scientists tackling high-impact problems In this episode of Galaxy Balance, Cory Smith is joined by Merrick Smela, a scientist and entrepreneur working at the frontier of human reproduction. Merrick’s work focuses on in vitro gametogenesis (IVG): generating functional human eggs from stem cells as a potential next step beyond IVF. The conversation explores how eggs develop, why faithfully reproducing meiosis and epigenetic programming is one of the hardest challenges in biology, and how large-scale screening, single-cell genomics, and microscopy are being used to eng…

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