Fertility News and Research

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Unveiling the Evolutionary Origins of Bilaterian Species

700 million years ago, a remarkable creature emerged for the first time. Though it may not have been much to look at by today's standards, the animal had a front and a back, a top and a bottom.

16 Apr 2024

Nutrient Deprivation Induces Embryonic Diapause in Hungry Mouse Mums

It's challenging to sustain a pregnancy when food is short, or conditions are otherwise tough. That's why many mammalian embryos can postpone their growth to get through periods of environmental stress and then re-enter development when conditions improve.

12 Apr 2024

Cellular Atlas of the Human Ovary Offers Hope for Restoring Hormone Production and Fertility

A new "atlas" of the human ovary provides insights that could lead to treatments restoring ovarian hormone production and the ability to have biologically related children, according to University of Michigan engineers.

9 Apr 2024

New Study Unveils Mechanism Behind Mice Ovary Development

Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute have provided insight into the proteins governing the development of mice's ovaries both prenatally and postnatally. This might help comprehend the progression of female infertility.

25 Mar 2024

How Does the Egg Coat Prevent Multiple Fertilization

The surrounding egg coat tightens once a sperm fertilizes an egg, mechanically blocking further sperm from entering and causing the embryo to die.

15 Mar 2024

Researchers Isolate Adaptable Leptospirosis Strain in Austrian Cattle

Leptospirosis is a globally distributed infectious disease that affects both animals and humans. While the infection is endemic in tropical regions, its incidence seems to increase in temperate regions.

27 Feb 2024

Bulls Guide Research into Male Fertility Genetics

One in eight couples worldwide are unable to conceive within a year, or lifelong due to infertility, making it a common issue.

19 Feb 2024

High-Resolution Map Exposes Cellular Pathways to Fertility

An interdisciplinary team mapped the gene expression that takes place in mice during follicle maturation and ovulation using a state-of-the-art method of RNA tagging.

24 Jan 2024

No Consistent Evidence for Sperm Quality Decreasing With Age

Scientists have shown that while male fertility and sperm fitness decrease with age in humans, this tendency does not hold true for other animals. The journal Nature Communications has published the findings.

18 Jan 2024

Zipping Up Chromosomes: The Synaptonemal Complex Revealed

We have two copies of each chromosome in every cell in our bodies except in our reproductive cells. Sperm and egg cells contain a single copy of each chromosome with a unique mix of genes from our parents, an evolutionary trick to give our offspring genetic variability.

4 Jan 2024

Researchers Discover How Microbes Enhance Fruit Fly Reproduction

For many of us, when we think of microbiomes, our first thoughts are probably about the beneficial microorganisms that live in our guts.

26 Dec 2023

Engineered Enzymes Show Promise for Converting Grass Biomass Into Biofuels

Plant biologists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have engineered enzymes to modify grass plants so their biomass can be more efficiently converted into biofuels and other bioproducts.

30 Oct 2023

Unraveling the Impact of Genetic Mutations on Future Generations

Regarding the structure of the human genome, it is only a matter of time until detrimental genes, which have the potential to jeopardize future generations, emerge within a population.

26 Oct 2023

Wolbachia’s Fertility Magic: Implications for Mosquito Population Control

A recent investigation uncovers the biological processes through which a particular bacteria strain belonging to the Wolbachia genus may boost the reproductive capabilities of the insects it invades.

25 Oct 2023

Researchers Sequence the Entire Genetic Code of Possums

In a five-year long study, just published in Nature Communications, an international group of researchers led by the University of Otago, has assembled the entire genetic code of the marsupial mammal.

18 Oct 2023

Mathematical Recipe for Sperm Tail Motion Discovered

Patterns of chemical interactions are thought to create patterns in nature such as stripes and spots. This new study shows that the mathematical basis of these patterns also governs how the sperm tail moves.

27 Sep 2023

The Last Piece of Our Genome: Sequencing the Y Chromosome

A full sequence of the Y chromosome, a feat that has challenged scientists for years, has been accomplished for the first time. In this interview, we speak to Dylan Taylor about this impactful research and how it may shape our understanding of human genetics.

1 Sep 2023

First Complete View of Y Chromosome's Code Sequenced

More than 100 experts from across the world, including those from Johns Hopkins University, have worked together to completely sequence the chromosome linked to male development, the final unsolved component of the human genome.

24 Aug 2023

Linking Alzheimer's Genetic Marker and Higher Female Fertility

The Apolipoprotein-ε4 (APOE-ε4) allele has been linked to an increased risk for several types of diseases in aging populations, particularly Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular disease.

10 Aug 2023

The “Unknome” Dataset Contains Protein Sequences That Are Still Unknown

Researchers from the UK anticipate that a new, freely accessible database they have developed will get smaller rather than bigger over time. This is due to the fact that it is a compilation of the many understudied proteins that are encoded by genes in the human genome, whose existence is recognized but whose activities are mostly unknown.

9 Aug 2023