sperm news stories on Newser

High-Fat Diet Lowers Sperm Count

Dustin Lushing — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:01:13 CDT

It's more bad news for fat. A new study shows men who eat large amounts of fatty foods, especially saturated fats common in meat and dairy products, had lower sperm production and concentration. A diet consisting of 37% or more of fat calories or just 13% or more of saturated...

The Male 'Pill': Ready for Testing

Neal Colgrass — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:48:39 CST

Will men take it? Will women believe men are taking it? However this unfolds, the male contraceptive pill may be only a decade away, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. Researchers at the University of Kansas are so confident about their male contraceptive pill that they're ready to seek FDA...

New Home Test Checks Sperm Count

Matt Cantor — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:09:07 CST

If you've ever questioned your sperm count but weren't thrilled with the idea of dropping by a clinic, worry no longer: For the first time, you can get an FDA-approved home test. The $30 to $40 SpermCheck Fertility Home Sperm Test, available at CVS.com and Walgreens.com, says it's...

Contraceptive Sperm Zap in the Works

Rob Quinn — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:13:31 CST

Researchers say they have found what could be a cheap, reliable, and long-lasting form of male birth control, although it involves zapping the testicles with ultrasound. A study on rats found that sound waves slowed sperm production to levels that would cause infertility in humans, making ultrasound a "promising candidate"...

Mouse Sperm Grown in Lab

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:22:51 CST

In what could be a breakthrough for men battling with infertility, scientists were recently able to grow mouse sperm in a lab. Scientists hope to someday use the same process to grow human sperm, which could mean that infertile men would be able to father children of their own, the...

Laptop WiFi May Ruin Sperm

Matt Cantor — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 06:30:05 CST

Guys, you may want to keep that laptop at a safe distance. A new study finds that laptops using WiFi may damage sperm, Reuters reports. Scientists put drops of healthy men’s semen under a laptop downloading data; after four hours, a quarter of the sperm had stopped swimming. Only 14%...

Scientists Turn Stem Cells Into Working Sperm

Matt Cantor — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:15:00 CDT

Researchers have managed to produce sperm cells from embryonic stem cells—and for the first time, the sperm worked, resulting in healthy baby mice. Researchers in Japan mixed the embryonic stem cells with certain proteins and hormones. They converted the resulting cells into germ cells, which they implanted in the...

Rapist Nabbed by Sperm-Sniffing Dog

Evann Gastaldo — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:03:05 CDT

Forget drug-sniffing dogs: Sweden has its very own sperm-sniffing dog named Rapports Opus, and he recently helped police catch an alleged rapist. Rapports Opus trained for a year to become the only sperm-sniffing dog in southern Sweden, and he was brought to a park where a man had been accused...

Sperm Grown in Lab for First Time

John Johnson — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 15:37:39 CDT

Japanese researchers have grown sperm in the laboratory for the first time, reports Nature . If the breakthrough with mice transfers to humans, it could open up IVF treatments for infertile men, notes the Guardian . Scientists created the sperm from the testicular tissue of mice and successfully produced a dozen baby...