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Fertility 'reassurance' for most chemotherapy-treated female childhood cancer survivors

Both female and male chemotherapy-treated survivors of childhood cancer have an increased risk of impaired fertility, but results suggest that the risk in women is limited to those given specific chemotherapy drugs.

31 Mar 2016

Putative male-determining gene discovery could help develop strategies to combat malaria

A group of scientists, including one from the University of California, Riverside, have discovered a long-hypothesized male determining gene in the mosquito species that carries malaria, laying the groundwork for the development of strategies that could help control the disease.

30 Mar 2016

Researchers use novel technology to sequence Y chromosome in malaria spreading mosquitoes

A team of researchers with the Fralin Life Science Institute at Virginia Tech, working with a large international consortium, has sequenced the Y chromosome--the genetic driver of sex-determination and male fertility-- in a family of malaria spreading mosquitoes.

29 Mar 2016

Fertility goes down when cost of achieving social status goes up

Competition for social status may be an important driver of lower fertility in the modern world, suggests a new study published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.

29 Mar 2016

Couple's caffeinated beverage consumption can increase risk of miscarriage

A woman is more likely to miscarry if she and her partner drink more than two caffeinated beverages a day during the weeks leading up to conception, according to a new study from researchers at the National Institutes of Health and Ohio State University, Columbus.

25 Mar 2016

Women who have survived childhood cancer can become pregnant, shows study

For women who have survived childhood cancer, the impact of modern chemotherapy regimens on the likelihood of becoming pregnant is generally small, and most have a good chance of conceiving, according to one of the largest studies of its kind published in The Lancet Oncology.

24 Mar 2016

Female childhood cancer survivors have a good chance of conceiving

A new study examines fertility issues in male and female childhood cancer survivors who had received chemotherapy. The study found that while most female survivors still have a good chance of conceiving, male survivors are significantly less likely to father children.

23 Mar 2016

Mothers give offspring a head start in life

Thank your mothers: A research collaboration between UC Santa Barbara and L'École Normale Supérieure in Paris has proven that deterministic maternal effects can give offspring a better start on life.

17 Mar 2016

Postnatal depression dissuades women from having a third child

Mothers who have postnatal depression are unlikely to have more than two children according to research carried out by evolutionary anthropologists the University of Kent and published by Evolution, Medicine and Public Health.

15 Mar 2016

Researchers aim to design a better male contraceptive pill

Women can choose from a wide selection of birth control methods, including numerous oral contraceptives, but there's never been an analogous pill for men. That's not for lack of trying: For many years, scientists have attempted to formulate a male pill. Finally, a group of researchers has taken a step toward that goal by tweaking some experimental compounds that show promise.

14 Mar 2016

Biological change in mosquito mating could be used to fight mosquito-borne diseases

Genetic cues from male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes passed on during sex affect which genes are turned on or off in a females' reproductive tract post-mating, including genes related to blood feeding, egg development and immune defense, according to new Cornell research.

14 Mar 2016

Fertility problems put men at increased risk of metabolic diseases

Men with fertility problems are at risk of metabolic diseases as they age, according to work being presented at the European Association of Urology conference in Munich

14 Mar 2016

New study assesses link between depression, anxiety and antidepressants and outcome of IVF

Depression and anxiety, and not necessarily the use of antidepressant medication, are associated with lower pregnancy and live birth rates following in vitro fertilisation, according to a large register study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The findings are published in the journal Fertility & Sterility and can be of interest to clinicians treating infertility and for women with depression or anxiety planning to undergo fertility treatment.

8 Mar 2016

IVF could reduce unintended twin births

The twin birth rate in the U.S. has surged over the last 30 years, mostly because of reproductive technologies including in vitro fertilization. Though it's partly the cause, IVF could also be the most promising solution to reducing unintended twin births, argues Dr. Eli Adashi in a new editorial in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

7 Mar 2016

Commonly-used agricultural fertilisers may pose threat to human reproductive health

Eating meat from animals grazed on land treated with commonly-used agricultural fertilisers might have serious implications for pregnant women and the future reproductive health of their unborn children, according to a new study involving sheep.

2 Mar 2016

Researchers discover new JE virus transmission route

Japanese Encephalitis (JE) virus causes serious inflammation of the brain in people and fertility problems in pigs. Mosquitoes were previously the only known transmission route. However, the virus can also be spread from pig to pig by direct contact, and this could enable it to circulate in pigs during the mosquito-free winter season.

24 Feb 2016