Fertilization News and Research

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Increase in male partner’s age associated with decline in cumulative live birth rate, study finds

A new study of IVF couples, conducted in the USA, finds the effects of the age of male partners in cumulative live birth outcomes. The results clearly state that there can be a significant reduction in the chances of live births owing to the increased age of the male partner, also seen with certain younger female age groups whose age has less potency on the effects.

3 Jul 2017

Live birth outcome affected by age of male partner, study shows

Men, unlike women, do not have a menopause or a predictable and detectable decline in their fertility. Female age is thus the dominant factor in predicting (or explaining) a couple's chance of conception, whether natural or assisted.

3 Jul 2017

Strategies for making 'better' bread to fight against iron and zinc deficiencies

The health effects of zinc and iron deficiencies can be devastating, particularly in developing countries. One strategy for addressing this problem involves fertilizing crops with the micronutrients.

28 Jun 2017

UC biologist explores structural complexities of butterflies to unlock mysteries of human infertility

When insects skip the light fandango their romantic foreplay often involves some pretty crazy things like hypnotic dance moves and flashy colors. In some species it ends with a complex ejaculate package that does more than fertilize offspring.

28 Jun 2017

Penn State scientists win grant to develop novel approach to contraception

Two Penn State researchers have received a grant through the Grand Challenges Explorations program -- an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation -- to develop a novel approach to contraception.

15 Jun 2017

Study suggests human embryos not susceptible to dying early as often claimed

How difficult is it to conceive? According to a widely-held view, fewer than one in three embryos make it to term, but a new study from a researcher at the University of Cambridge suggests that human embryos are not as susceptible to dying in the first weeks after fertilization as often claimed.

13 Jun 2017

Griffith scientists discover new and improved tool to detect cancer

Studying the food poisoning bacteria E. coli may have led scientists to discover a new and improved tool to detect cancer.

8 Jun 2017

Study provides reassurance to breast cancer survivors who contemplate pregnancy

Findings from a retrospective study of 1,200 women provide reassurance to breast cancer survivors who are contemplating pregnancy.

5 Jun 2017

Follistatin plays key role in embryo implantation

Looking to improve the success rate of assisted reproductive technologies, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine investigated in more detail the mechanism involved in successful embryo implantation, an essential component of female fertility.

2 Jun 2017

EPFL researchers discover protein that kick-starts gene expression in nascent embryos

The formation of a human embryo starts with the fertilization of the oocyte by the sperm cell. This yields the zygote, the primordial cell that carries one copy each of the maternal and paternal genomes.

2 May 2017

Study finds link between fertility treatments and pediatric tumors

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers have found that babies born from mothers who underwent fertility treatments are at increased risk of developing many types of pediatric cancers and tumors (neoplasms).

25 Apr 2017

Salk scientists discover chemical cocktail that enables stem cells to generate tissues

When scientists talk about laboratory stem cells being totipotent or pluripotent, they mean that the cells have the potential, like an embryo, to develop into any type of tissue in the body.

6 Apr 2017

Prenatal exposure to progesterone could influence sexual orientation in later life

Bisexuality is quite common among men and women whose mothers received additional doses of the sex hormone progesterone while pregnant.

3 Apr 2017

Pioneering IVF technique offers hope to families with inheritable mitochondrial disorders

Details of a pioneering IVF technique using mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) have been revealed, giving hope to those families with inheritable mitochondrial disorders that they may be able to have healthy children in the future.

3 Apr 2017

Experts report serious limitations to technology for screening embryos

The healthy development of an embryo created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) depends on whether most, if not all, of the cells have the proper number of chromosomes.

31 Mar 2017

Researchers shed light on genome reorganization after fertilization in single-cell mammalian embryo

Using a newly developed method researchers at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences have been able to shed light on the complexity of genome reorganization occurring during the first hours after fertilization in the single-cell mammalian embryo

30 Mar 2017

Researchers identify new gene mutation that leads to infertility in women

It has been estimated that more than 80 million people in the world have an unfulfilled desire to have children. But for every 10th couple, the reasons therefor remain unclear.

28 Mar 2017

New research shows how molecular motors are transported into cilia

Molecular motors produce the force that powers the beat of sperm cell tails to generate movement toward the egg cell for fertilization.

27 Mar 2017

Research suggests way to reverse age-related and radiation-induced DNA damage

DNA repair is essential for cell vitality, cell survival and cancer prevention, yet cells' ability to patch up damaged DNA declines with age for reasons not fully understood.

24 Mar 2017

Researchers uncover gene mutation that may provide answers to unexplained female infertility

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital and Rice University have uncovered a gene mutation that may provide answers to unexplained female infertility. The study appears in Scientific Reports, a member of the Nature family of journals.

22 Mar 2017