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Apr 14, 2009
Think girls are born with all the eggs they'll ever have? New research in mice suggests that long-held notion may be false.
Chinese researchers, reporting in Nature Cell Biology, say they found stem cells in the rodents' ovaries that could be nudged into becoming eggs that produced offspring. Physicians — not to mention would-be moms wondering when it's too late to get pregnant — have operated on the assumption that the supply of eggs a girl is born with is all she'll ever have and that it depletes with age. If the new finding is confirmed in humans, though, it could broaden infertility treatments to include the extraction and stockpile of the stem cells for future use, or drugs that would stimulate the cells to become eggs, the Washington Post notes.
Apr 10, 2009 | 1
With the recession grinding into its 17th official month, a lot of things are on sale right now – including male sex cells.
In a move unprecedented in its history, Xytex, one of the oldest sperm and tissue banks in the U.S., is offering a steep discount on sperm: up to $200 off, for a net price of between $250 and $350 per vial.
Unfortunately, the discount only applies to sperm from donors with large inventory, thanks to multiple donations and/or an unusually high sperm count and quality.
"We're all feeling the effects of the economy and, especially for families seeking reproductive options, every dollar counts, " Xytex spokesperson Danielle Moores told AFP, explaining why the company took the step.
Jan 28, 2009 | 1
Researchers have found that perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), which are found in a variety of everyday materials from carpets to shampoo, may reduce fertility in women.
Previous studies have linked high levels of PFCs to infertility in animals, but this is the first one to show such an effect on humans, says senior study author Jorn Olsen, who heads the epidemiology department at the University of California in Los Angeles. The study is published today in the journal Human Reproduction.
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