Sperm News and Research

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The term sperm refers to the male reproductive cells. In the types of sexual reproduction known as anisogamy and oogamy, there is a marked difference in the size of the gametes with the smaller one being termed the "male" or sperm cell. The human sperm cell is haploid, so that its 23 chromosomes can join the 23 chromosomes of the female egg to form a diploid cell.

Number of men interested in donating sperm has declined significantly

A study by a leading UK fertility centre has found that the numbers of men - especially students - coming forward as potential sperm donors fell sharply after 2000, almost certainly due to growing awareness that changes in the law would be removing the right to anonymity.

13 Nov 2005

Testicular cancer survivors can still have children

The overall rate of fatherhood after treatment for testicular cancer is high, but the ability to conceive and the time to conception are influenced by the type and intensity of treatment, according to a new study in the November 2 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

3 Nov 2005

Alien abduction may be all in the mind

New research presented at the Science Museum's Dana Centre, supports what scientists have long argued: that people who report contact with aliens have a psychological profile that might make them more susceptible to false memories.

27 Oct 2005

Scientists have identified the gene which explains why eggs fail to produce a zygote

Scientists have identified the gene responsible for controlling a first key step in the creation of new life, according to new research published in the journal Nature.

27 Oct 2005

Natural selection has played an important role in patterning the human genome

The most detailed analysis to date of how humans differ from one another at the DNA level shows strong evidence that natural selection has shaped the recent evolution of our species, according to researchers from Cornell University, Celera Genomics and Celera Diagnostics.

23 Oct 2005

PCBs found widely in the environment and absorbed in the diet - may damage sperm

Research by an European Union-supported international team of scientists has shown that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) - synthetic organic chemicals found widely in the environment and absorbed in the diet - may damage sperm.

13 Oct 2005

Microfluidics can be used successfully for IVF in mice

Technology that more closely mirrors the natural fertilization process is showing promise as a new method of in-vitro fertilization, researchers at the University of Michigan Health System have found.

12 Oct 2005

Scientist shed light on bizarre reproductive conflicts encountered by hermaphroditic animals

By directly manipulating mating performance in a tropical sea slug, Chelidonura hirundinina, researchers of the University of Tubingen have now shed light on the bizarre reproductive conflicts encountered by hermaphroditic animals. In some hermaphroditic species, such as C. hirundinina, mating partners may insist on copulating as a "male," "female," or both, resulting in unique biological conflicts over gender.

10 Oct 2005

Researchers find gene that is important for the control of fundamental rhythms in nematode worms

University of Utah biologists found a gene that controls rhythmic events in a worm's life: swallowing food, laying eggs and pooping.

9 Oct 2005

Israeli scientists successfully transplant ovaries in sheep and trigger early embryonic development

Israeli scientists report in Human Reproduction that they have successfully transplanted whole frozen and thawed ovaries in sheep, retrieved oocytes from these ovaries and triggered them in the laboratory into early embryonic development.

26 Sep 2005

Workshop - stem cells in reproduction and in the brain

"Once we have found the factors by which body cells can be re-programmed into stem cells, then therapeutic cloning might become superfluous," said Hans R. Scholer, director of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Munster, Germany, at an international scientific symposium on stem cell research in Kobe, Japan.

10 Sep 2005

Nitric oxide could one day help women in their 30s and 40s remain fertile longer

Researchers have found that an important chemical compound, nitric oxide, appears to slow or reverse the aging of eggs in mouse ovaries. The finding suggests nitric oxide could one day help women in their 30s and 40s remain fertile longer and increase their chances of having healthy babies, the scientists say.

7 Sep 2005

New ways to enhance or block fertilization

Researchers have capitalized on the unique properties of a sperm cell to follow cell membrane fusion as it occurs during fertilization, tracking the full cascade of events for the first time. The findings could reveal new ways to enhance or block fertilization, as well as how to control the secretion of neurotransmitters and hormones such as insulin.

6 Sep 2005

Human Y chromosome stays intact while chimp Y loses genes

The human and the chimpanzee Y chromosomes went their separate ways approximately 6 million years ago. But ever since this evolutionary parting, these two chromosomes have experienced different fates, new research indicates.

1 Sep 2005

Sperm testing in UK labs fails to meet World Health Organization standards

Teams from the Universities of Bristol and Sheffield found only five per cent of the clinics met all WHO standards for assessing the size and shape of sperm.

30 Aug 2005

How germ cells decide whether to be sperm or eggs

Johns Hopkins biologists have determined how developing embryos tell their specialized "germ cells" whether to develop into a male's sperm or a female's eggs.

29 Aug 2005

Acupuncture may help some men overcome infertility

Researchers found five weeks of acupuncture treatment reduced the number of structural abnormalities in sperm and increased the overall number of normal sperm in a group of men with infertility problems.

11 Aug 2005

Laser scissor-and-tweezers technology called RoboLase performed across the Pacific

In an effort to combine sophisticated laser and Internet technologies, scientists in Australia have successfully performed laser surgery and "optical trapping" in a Southern California laboratory via the Internet.

1 Aug 2005

Heparinase I is not a suitable replacement for protamine

The results of an international clinical trial led by Duke University Medical Center researchers has shown that a new drug is not a suitable replacement for protamine, a drug that has been used for more than 40 years after coronary artery bypass surgery to return thinned blood to its normal state.

1 Aug 2005

Revolutionary finding on female reproductive function

Previously unrecognized stem cells found in the bone marrow and blood of mice can "restock" a depleted ovary with new egg cells within weeks, according to new research published in this week's issue of the journal Cell.

27 Jul 2005