Tag: sperm

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After Cancer, Stem Cells Restore Male Fertility

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U. PITTSBURGH (US) — After an injection of banked sperm-producing stem cells, male primates who become sterile due to cancer drug side effects were once again fertile.

A study published in Cell Stem Cell, describes how previously frozen stem cells restored production of sperm that was able to successfully fertilize eggs to produce early embryos.

Some cancer drugs work by destroying rapidly dividing cells. Since it isn’t possible to discriminate between cancer cells and other rapidly dividing cells in the body, the precursor cells involved in making sperm can be inadvertently wiped out leaving the patient infertile, explains senior investigator Kyle Orwig, associate professor in the department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and an investigator at Magee-Womens Research Institute. Read full article.

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Protein Mutation Linked to Male Infertility

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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.

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Supermice Invade Europe with Extra Strength Sperm

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The male chromosome of an Eastern European house mouse has infiltrated Western Europe, creating a hybrid strain of “supermice” with extra-high sperm counts.

Normally, hybridization, when two subspecies mate to produce offspring, results in decreased  sperm strength in the offspring. But when the western mouse Mus musculus domesticus picks up a male, or Y, chromosome from the eastern mouse Mus musculus musculus, the result is a strain of mice with higher-than-normal sperm counts that now thrives in the Czech Republic and the Bavarian region of Germany. Read full article.

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US Scientists Aim to Make Sperm from Stem Cells

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US researchers say they will redouble their efforts to create human sperm from stem cells following the success of a Japanese study involving mice. A Kyoto University team used mice stem cells to create eggs, which were fertilised to produce baby mice.

Dr Renee Pera, of Stanford University in California, aims to create human sperm to use for reproduction within two years, and eggs within five years. Read full article.

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Healthy Diet Makes Better Sperm

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Tuesday Oct 9, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) — Eating a healthy diet improves the mobility of sperm in young men, according to a study recently released in Human Reproduction.

A.J. Gaskins at Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, MA and colleagues conducted the study and found men in the highest quartile of intake of a Prudent diet had 11.3 percent higher percentage of progressively motile sperm, compared with men in the lowest quartile. Read full article.
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Spur On Your Sperm

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Want your “guys” to swim like Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps — good kick, perfect physique and great speed? Well, you can spur on your sperm by adding walnuts to your daily menu. (Mike likes ’em roasted; Mehmet? Soaked in water.) Turns out this nut is packed with alpha linoleic acid, one of the omega-3s that help protect you from inflammation and associated diseases, such as diabetes, atherosclerosis and osteoporosis. Read full article.

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Chinese Hospital Introduces Sperm Extractor

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A hospital in China is introducing a sperm extractor to help men who have infertility problems.

The hands-free device has an adaptable massager that can be adjusted according to the person’s height. A website that’s selling the machine for $2,800 says “it can give patients very comfortable feeling.” Read full article.

 

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Male Fertility Restored with Missing Sperm Protein

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Male infertility can be the result of sperm missing just one vital protein, which is necessary to activate the egg when the sperm fuses with it. But injecting that egg with the missing protein can “kick-start” the vital processes of embryo development, and dramatically increase the chances of a successful pregnancy.

These are the findings of a new study by a team at Cardiff University in the UK who write about their work in a paper being published in the journal Fertility and Sterility. They suggest the findings strengthen the case for the potential use of the protein in treating male infertility. Read full article.

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‘Missing’ protein can kick-start male fertility

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Adding a missing protein to in fertile human sperm can ‘kick-start’ its ability to fertilise an egg and dramatically increase the chances of a successful pregnancy, a new study has claimed.

Researchers from Cardiff University have found that sperm transfers a vital protein, known as PLC-zeta (PLCz), to the egg upon fertilisation.

This sperm protein initiates a process called ‘egg activation’ which sets off all the biological processes necessary for development of an embryo. Read full article.

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Human Sperm Can Swim in Perfect 3D Spirals

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One more reason for dudes to walk around like they’re hoarding the Eighth World Wonder in their boxer-briefs:

UCLA has revealed that human sperm can swim in a gorgeous, nature-perfect, three-dimensional spiral — not unlike the helix formed by human DNA, aesthetically — instead of just squiggling along in a desperate, haphazard route to the finish line.

Well, they still do that, too. But scientists discovered that…

… more than 1,000 sperm cells in a test batch of 24,000 moved in “a very tight helical, or corkscrew, motion,” at up to 20 rotations per second. Read full article.