Babies could be brought into existence without a genetic mother after scientists created functional human eggs from skin.

American researchers demonstrated it was possible to replace the DNA from an egg with the genetic material from another person’s skin, male or female, turning the hybrid compound into a female sex cell ready for fertilisation.

The team then successfully fertilised the new ‘egg’ with sperm and began growing it into an embryo. The experiment was halted at six days – the point at which an embryo would usually be transferred to the womb in IVF.

The team has produced 82 functional eggs, which were fertilised in the lab, although only 9 per cent went on to develop into early embryos and all suffered from chromosomal abnormalities.

Nonetheless, the breakthrough opens the possibility of skin DNA from a man being placed inside a donor egg and fertilised by another man, leading to a baby with two genetic fathers and no DNA from a woman.