An international consortium that aims to catalogue patterns of human genetic variation has published a detailed description of its approach, partly to ensure that all the scientists involved receive credit for their work. The 'HapMap' project, launched in October 2002, is looking at DNA samples from 270 people from around...
A new study of men attending a Scottish fertility clinic indicates a general decline in sperm count. The SPIN (Semen Parameters in the Northeast) study measured the sperm count in over 16,000 semen samples from over 7,500 men attending the Aberdeen Fertility Centre between 1989 and 2002. The findings showed...
A survey of British couples undergoing IVF treatment suggests that many of them would be prepared to donate embryos not used in their own treatment for stem cell research purposes. The aim of the study was to discover which factors affected a couple's decision on this matter, in order to...
The seventh annual report of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which contains information on the conceptions and births of more than 40,000 babies born following the use of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) in America in 2001, was published last month. The report summarises data collected from...
An Australian fertility clinic has advertised for sperm donors at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in exchange for a free trip 'down under'. The advertisement, placed in the sports section of the university's student newsletter, announced in large bold print 'Sperm donors needed. We will pay'. The advertisement states...
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Comment
More research into male infertility is needed
by Professor Allan Pacey
Male infertility has been in the news again this week, with journalists pouncing on some data presented at the joint meeting of the Association of Clinical Embryologists and the British Fertility Society in Liverpool. What caught the media's attention was a report from researchers in Aberdeen who had presented preliminary...