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.

Scientists look at slow-freezing techniques for human tissue

The goal is to make human eggs, ovarian tissue, blood vessels, even whole organs available when needed.

8 Jun 2007

Embryonic stem cells can be created without eggs

Embryonic stem cells are unique because they can develop into virtually any kind of tissue type, an attribute called pluripotency.

8 Jun 2007

Preparing for a baby

Planning for pregnancy can help your baby get the best possible start in life. Here are eight valuable tips from Barbara Coulter-Smith, D.O., an obstetrician/gynecologist on the medical staff at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine.

8 Jun 2007

Men who smoke risk genetic damage to their sperm which is passed on to their children

According to Canadian researchers children could inherit genetic damage from a father who smokes.

3 Jun 2007

Smoking can cause changes in the DNA sequence of sperm cells

The science has long been clear that smoking causes cancer, but new research shows that children could inherit genetic damage from a father who smokes.

3 Jun 2007

Double-standard exists in the way that men and women donors are valued by the fertility industry

When Sociologist Rene Almeling decided to look into the operations of U.S. sperm banks and egg agencies, the UCLA Ph.D. candidate in sociology thought she knew what she would find.

24 May 2007

Sheep offer model for undernourishment in pregnant teen girls

Two papers selected for publication in the August 2007 issue of Biology of Reproduction demonstrate that adolescent female sheep that become pregnant before they have achieved their full growth may not be able to supply enough nourishment for their fetuses to develop without physical deficits.

24 May 2007

Cornell University establishes Center for Reproductive Genomics

Cornell University has established the Center for Reproductive Genomics, which will combine basic research in reproductive sciences on Cornell's Ithaca campus with one of the country's leading fertility clinics at Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC) in New York City.

10 May 2007

Males have evolved to deliver sperm more effectively to females with multiple partners

A review of the latest research in sexual adaptation shows that evidence is building for what researchers call "sperm competition."

9 May 2007

Sperm from diabetic men have greater levels of DNA damage which may affect their fertility

In the first study to compare the quality of DNA in sperm from diabetic and non-diabetic men, researchers at Queen’s University Belfast showed that the DNA in the nuclei of the sperm cells had greater levels of fragmentation in diabetic men, and that there were more deletions of DNA in the tiny, energy-generating structures in the cells called mitochondria.

8 May 2007

New understanding of genetic mutation that contributes to autism

The investigators now know more about how the mutation causes problems with a specific gene and are testing for additional mutations of the same gene in other people with autism.

4 May 2007

Diabetes damages DNA in men's sperm and may affect fertility

Scientists have found that sperm from diabetic men have greater levels of DNA damage than sperm from men who do not have the disease.

4 May 2007

Study of planarians offers insight into germ cell development

The planarian is not as well known as other, more widely used subjects of scientific study , model creatures such as the fruit fly, nematode or mouse.

25 Apr 2007

Scent prediction test

The scent of lily of the valley hangs in the air for readers of the journal Angewandte Chemie: just rub the journal's cover and enjoy a lily-of-the-valley scent.

19 Apr 2007

No-scalpel vasectomy better

Although no-scalpel vasectomies are becoming more popular among physicians and patients, there are no definitive statistics to confirm the superiority of this choice, and a new review's main conclusion is to underline the importance of training.

19 Apr 2007

Immune system disorder may be the cause of unexplained infertility

It's been a topic on Sex and the City and was rumored to be a problem for a popular sitcom star when she and her husband were trying to conceive.

18 Apr 2007

Connection between cancer development and Darwinian evolution explored

Cancer is a natural consequence of human evolution. Our genes have not developed to give us long and happy lives.

17 Apr 2007

Stranger than science fiction?...Human sperm created from bone marrow

A team of scientists have created primitive human sperm in the laboratory by using bone-marrow tissue from male volunteers.

16 Apr 2007

Mapping rhesus macaque genome helps illuminate what makes us human

Researchers have sequenced the genome of the relatively ancient rhesus macaque ( Macaca mulatta ), providing perspective into how humans are genetically different from our primate relatives.

15 Apr 2007

Macaque genome analysis will improve scientists' ability to identify human genes involved in diseases

Cornell experts in computational biology and bioinformatics have made key contributions to the analysis of the genome of the rhesus macaque, better known as the rhesus monkey.

15 Apr 2007