Reproduction News and Research

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Protein in the male reproductive tract is a potent anti-bacterial agent

Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have found that a protein they discovered three years ago in the male reproductive tract is a potent anti-bacterial agent.

6 May 2004

Sleep apnoea and obesity

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome is a common disorder with an estimated prevalence of at least 2 to 4% among middle-aged adults, especially common in obesity.

27 Apr 2004

Leading experts to debate controversial issues over IVF and infertility treatment

Leading experts including broadcaster Professor Lord Robert Winston will debate controversial issues over IVF and infertility treatment – including Bristol’s ‘postcode lottery’ lack of NHS IVF treatment - in Bristol on Wednesday April 28.

26 Apr 2004

Human cloning on a grand scale could spell the end of the species as we all become nastier

Human cloning on a grand scale could spell the end of the species as we all become nastier, warn researchers at the University of Sussex.

20 Apr 2004

New information on genetic shuffling before egg or sperm formation rewrites genetic theory

Key decisions in the genetic shuffling that occurs before eggs or sperm are formed are made earlier than thought, rewriting textbook genetics, according to recent papers from researchers at UC Davis, Harvard University and UC San Diego.

16 Apr 2004

IVF improvements in United States

Since its introduction in the United States, assisted reproduction technology has helped allow women to conceive more than a million babies.

16 Apr 2004

Genetic mutation raises interesting questions about the evolution of the Y chromosome

The names and dates comprising a family tree contain branches that can extend backward centuries in time. People use these diagrams to discover their ancestral origin. Scientists use them to study the genealogical origins of entire species, tracing evolutionary history down to changes in a single gene.

14 Apr 2004

Growth hormones combat Crohn’s disease, cardiac disorders and improve fertility in invitro fertilisation

New treatments for breast cancer, skin and wound healing and obesity will be revealed at an international conference in Cairns, Australia next week.

13 Apr 2004

Breast-feeding may protect against SIDS

Breast-fed babies arouse more readily from deep sleep, Monash researchers have found, in a discovery that could help reduce deaths due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

7 Apr 2004

Compounds that may stop replication of T-cell leukemia virus

Researchers are analyzing several compounds that may inhibit the enzyme that is essential for the reproduction of the Human T-cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 (HTLV-I), which has infected 15 to 20 million people worldwide. The virus causes the fatal adult T-cell leukemia in up to 10 percent of those infected.

1 Apr 2004

Immunomodulator induces long-term anti-tumor activity

EntreMed, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutic candidates primarily for the treatment of cancer, today reported that three months following administration with ENMD 0996, preclinical animal models showed inhibition of metastases. Data presented demonstrated that ENMD 0996 specifically blocks the activity of basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2), a naturally-occurring protein that stimulates angiogenesis, but had no effect on other angiogenesis stimulators.

29 Mar 2004

£5m for HIV/AIDS trial involving HIV patients in London, Moscow, South Africa and Australia

A joint Oxford University/Imperial College research programme into HIV/AIDS has received £5 million support from the Wellcome Trust to carry out a drug trial involving HIV patients in London, Moscow, South Africa and Australia.

24 Mar 2004

Oregon Stem Cell Center Hunt for Human Disease Therapies

Oregon Health & Science University's fast-growing stem cell research program, which already has made significant strides in the hunt for human disease therapies, now has a place to call home.

23 Mar 2004

Plasticiser Phthalates connected with rising infertility rates

Phthalates, largely used as plasticisers, have long been suspected in connection with rising infertility rates, particularly among men. These substances are quite common and are considered highly hazardous to human health because they disrupt the hormonal balance and impair reproduction and development. What has not been clear up to now is the amount of phthalates that enter the human body.

22 Mar 2004

Stem cells and female reproduction: lessons from an unexpected source

Baltimore, MD. The recent findings reported in Nature (March 11, 2004) by Jonathon Tilly’s group at Harvard Medical School, show that female mice produce stem cells that give rise to eggs. This result overturns previous notions about mammalian reproduction, which held that females are born with all the eggs that they will ever have and that the decline in egg quality that occurs after a certain age is due to an extended aging process. What mammalian research has not been able to address at this point, however, is how these stem cells operate, what prompts them to develop into eggs, and why they are eventually lost. To answer these questions we must turn to our cousin the fruitfly.