Sydney: Mutations in a protein called RABL2 shortens sperm tails, crippling their swimming ability (motility) and lowering sperm production – all contributing to male infertility, says a study.
The team led by Moira O`Bryan, professor from Monash University`s School of Biomedical Sciences in Austraia, found that mutated RABL2 resulted in sperm tails 17 percent shorter than normal, lowering sperm production by 50 percent.
O`Bryan said the research fitted another piece in the jigsaw puzzle of sperm development. “The mutations in the RABL2 gene are very likely to cause infertility,” said O`Bryan, the journal Public Library of Science Genetics reports. Read full article.
