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.

Pioneering Approach Restores Sperm Production and Fertility in Mouse Model

For many couples facing infertility, medicine offers a range of solutions. But for men with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA)-a genetic condition where sperm production stalls-options remain limited.

15 Oct 2025

Intergenerational Transmission of Exercise Benefits Mediated by Sperm MicroRNAs

n a recent study published in Cell Metabolism, a collaborative research team led by Chen-Yu Zhang, Xi Chen, and Di-Jun Chen from Nanjing University, together with Tao Zhang from Nanjing Medical University, reported groundbreaking findings in their paper entitled "Paternal exercise confers endurance capacity to offspring through sperm microRNAs."

7 Oct 2025

Scientists Derive Authentic Embryonic Stem Cells From Chickens and Other Birds

Egg whites may be perfect for a health-conscious breakfast, but egg yolks turned out to be the key ingredient for cultivating bird embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in the lab.

30 Sep 2025

Chromosome Zippers Rely on DNA Junctions to Safeguard Fertility

Every new life begins after a genetic shuffle. When organisms make eggs or sperm, maternal and paternal chromosomes pair up and swap pieces of DNA in a process called crossing over.

26 Sep 2025

Discovery Reveals Spinal Neurons as Active Players in Sexual Behavior

For decades, it was thought that while the brain orchestrated male sexual behavior – arousal, courtship, and copulation – the spinal cord merely executed the final act: ejaculation. But a study from the Champalimaud Foundation (CF) challenges that tidy division.

25 Sep 2025

How Chromosome Crossovers Safeguard Fertility and Genetic Health

When a woman becomes pregnant, the outcome of that pregnancy depends on many things - including a crucial event that happened while she was still growing inside her own mother's womb.

25 Sep 2025

New Study Reveals How “Selfish Genes” Regulate Insects

New study sheds light on one of genetics' most persistent mysteries: how the workings of the so-called “selfish gene’ could have managed to control dangerous insect populations.

19 Sep 2025

Loss of Zfy Genes Explains Why Some Sperm Fail

A study at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa by researchers from the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) found that losing a crucial male fertility gene causes infertility and alters the expression of hundreds of other genes.

17 Sep 2025

Specialized Protein Structures Essential for Correct Sperm Function

There are many potential causes of infertility, and it can be challenging to pin down just what the problem is when a couple is having trouble getting pregnant.

11 Sep 2025

New Research Identifies a Central Protein for Oocyte Dormancy

The maturation of oocytes remains suspended for many years. Researchers from Konstanz and Göttingen have now discovered which protein keeps this condition stable over such a long time.

1 Sep 2025

New "DNA Organizer" Found to Be Essential for Sperm Stem Cell Development

A research team at Kyoto University has discovered STAG3-cohesin, a new mitotic cohesin complex that helps establish the unique DNA architecture of spermaotogonial stem cells (SSCs), the stem cells that give rise to sperm.

27 Aug 2025

New Method Enables Human Cells to Initiate Meiosis Outside the Body

More than one-sixth of adults around the world experience infertility in their lifetime. There is a high unmet need not only for increased access to affordable, high-quality fertility care for those in need but, importantly, also for new biomedical solutions that can address the root causes of infertility.

18 Aug 2025

Genetic Mapping Uncovers Six New Species of Glasswing Butterflies

Some butterflies can smell others of the same species, allowing them to identify each other in areas where multiple species all look the same, new research finds.

30 Jul 2025

Paternal miRNAs Play Unexpected Role in Seed Viability and Embryogenesis

By using targeted gene silencing in different pollen cell types, the study reveals that disrupting DCL1 function either in the vegetative cell or in sperm cells leads to defective seed formation.

14 Jul 2025

New Clues Reveal How Multicellularity Evolved in Early Animals

Animals, from worms and sponges to jellyfish and whales, contain anywhere from a few thousand to tens of trillions of nearly genetically identical cells.

2 Jul 2025

Study Finds Protein Cleavage Essential for Healthy Cilia and Cell Signaling

New research by Sumeda Nandadasa, PhD, reveals how a key protein associated with Meckel-Gruber syndrome, nephronophthisis, Joubert syndrome and other ciliopathies is cut in half to perform two separate functions, both of which are fundamental to the healthy development of children.

30 Jun 2025