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.

Zinc and folic acid supplements fail to improve fertility in men

Zinc and folic acid, a pair of dietary supplements long touted as an effective treatment for male infertility, failed to improve pregnancy rates, sperm counts, and sperm potency in a new study conducted at University of Utah Health and other medical centers in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health.

7 Jan 2020

Common plasticizer leads to fertility problems in roundworms

A new study published 9th January in PLOS Genetics by Mónica Colaiácovo of Harvard Medical School and colleagues reports that the most commonly used plasticizer, diethylhexyl phthalate, leads to fertility problems by causing an excess number of breaks in the DNA during egg production, and then interfering with the repair systems that fixes the breaks.

2 Jan 2020

Study reveals rapid effects of diet on sperm quality

Sperm are influenced by diet, and the effects arise rapidly. This is the conclusion of a study by researchers at Linköping University, in which healthy young men were fed a diet rich in sugar.

28 Dec 2019

Autism risk in children could be predicted by mutations in paternal sperm

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego, have found that mutations present in the sperms of the father could be predictors of autism in the offspring, in a landmark study. These mutations, if quantified could help ascertain the risk say the researchers. The new study appears this week in the latest issue of the journal Nature Medicine.

23 Dec 2019

National veteran dataset will help dissect the relationship between mental illness and prostate cancer

There appears to be an unhealthy synergy between mental illness and prostate cancer, and researchers are working to dissect the relationship by first assembling the largest dataset ever of veterans with either condition or both.

23 Dec 2019

Fewer fats could be the key to boosting male fertility

A diet low in fat and high in egg whites could be the key to boosting male fertility according to a new pilot study.

23 Dec 2019

Genetic mystery of infertility in fruit flies discovered

Researchers have discovered a novel parasitic gene in fruit flies that is responsible for destroying the eggs in the ovaries of their daughters.

17 Dec 2019

Penn researchers track defective sperm epigenome linked to male infertility

One out of eight couples has trouble conceiving, with nearly a quarter of those cases caused by unexplained male infertility. For the past decade, research has linked that infertility to defective sperm that fail to "evict" proteins called histones from DNA during development.

16 Dec 2019

Important discovery about male infertility could lead to new treatments

Using a new mouse model, Penn Medicine researchers have identified defects in the sperm epigenome that cause male infertility.

16 Dec 2019

Boys born small at higher risk of infertility

A new study published in the journal Human Reproduction on December 13, 2019, shows that baby boys who don’t grow as well as expected in the womb may grow up to be infertile as adults. The study showed a 55% or 85% higher risk of infertility among this group of men compared to those born with appropriate weights.

15 Dec 2019

UCLA scientists discover reason for higher rates of autoimmune disease in women than men

UCLA scientists have discovered one reason why autoimmune diseases are more prevalent in women than in men.

11 Dec 2019

Why some sperm swim in circles – it’s a protein defect

A new study published in the journal PNAS shows that some sperm cannot swim straight because they lack a protein called VSP. This motility defect seriously impacts the rates of successful fertilization. In addition, VSP is also found to regulate the amount of calcium that enters the flagellum, the whiplike organelle that propels the sperm towards the waiting ovum or egg. This important discovery may help treat infertility more effectively.

3 Dec 2019

New project could mark a pivotal advancement in therapies to address male sterility

Researchers from the University of Georgia, Emory University School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh have received a $2.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to test a novel method of producing viable sperm cells from skin cells.

3 Dec 2019

Smoking cannabis increases testicular cancer risk

Men who regularly smoke cannabis increase their risk of developing testicular cancer, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

2 Dec 2019

Gene discovery in fruit flies could provide clues to counteract mitochondrial diseases

Scientists have identified a protein in fruit flies that can be targeted to reverse the effects of disease-causing mutations in mitochondrial genes. The discovery could provide clues about how to counteract human mitochondrial diseases, for which there is currently no cure.

28 Nov 2019

HIV positive sperm bank launched in New Zealand

In pursuit of greater acceptance for HIV positive people, an organization in New Zealand aspires to begin an HIV positive sperm bank called Sperm Positive. It will start by accepting sperms from 3 males who have HIV but are being treated such that their sperm is not capable of transmitting the infection at present. The treatment has reduced viremia (the viral load in the blood) to such a level that it is undetectable by standard methods.

27 Nov 2019

Mystery surrounds gene edited babies one year on

A year back Chinese scientist He Jiankui was in the news for all the wrong reasons. He had helped create the world’s first genetically edited human babies. After a year the world is still in dark about the whereabouts and health of the babies he had created and he himself has been not seen since January this year.

27 Nov 2019

Study finds autism-related genetic mutations in aging brains of Alzheimer's patients

Researchers believe that autism is caused by mutations that occur sporadically in the egg or sperm or during pregnancy.

26 Nov 2019

Fertilization discovery reveals egg's role, potentially paves way for new contraceptive

An unexpected discovery about fertilization from the University of Virginia School of Medicine reveals new insights on how sperm and egg fuse and could have major implications for couples battling infertility – and may lead to a future male contraceptive.

13 Nov 2019

New light on the essential reproductive role of the clitoris

A new study focuses on the role of the clitoris in females, showing that when it is stimulated, it triggers a wave of changes within the rest of the reproductive tract. The outcome of these changes confers on the clitoris not only recreative but also reproductive importance, according to the studies.

10 Nov 2019