Stem Cells Zap Infertility in Female Mice

Researchers see hope for infertile men

(NEWSER) - 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 testes of mice. There, they developed into working sperm, Discover reports. Researchers hope the discovery will lead to male infertility treatments, notes ScienceNow . More»

(NEWSER) - British scientists announced they have created synthetic human sperm for the first time, the Guardian reports. The sperm—grown in a lab from stem cells—swim, have tails, and exhibit many of the same biological characteristics of real sperm, according to researchers. They believe the breakthrough could lead to a better understanding of male infertility and its treatment. More»

Bertold Wiesner secretly made 20 donations a year for decades

(NEWSER) - The biologist Bertold Wiesner set up a fertility clinic for high IQ donors in London in the 1940s, helping women conceive 1,500 babies before he died in 1972. But what he did not tell those using his clinic was that he was the clinic's major donor, likely making some 20 donations a year. The clinic's records were destroyed by his wife years ago, but preliminary DNA testing of 18 people conceived at the clinic indicates up to 600 babies could have been fathered by Wiesner over the years, reports the Telegraph . More»

Doctors fear predatory lending for in vitro procedures

(NEWSER) - Poor economy or not, families want children—and with bank credit tight, a specialized industry is reaping the benefits. "Fertility finance" firms provide loans for in vitro fertilizations, which regularly cost more than $20,000. The business looks set to soar this year, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal . It's "pretty much a recession-proof business, since the biological clock doesn't stop," says an executive with a fertility-clinic operator. More»

Infants born this year will be lucky, successful, wanna-be parents believe

(NEWSER) - The dragon is one of the luckiest and most powerful signs in the Chinese zodiac, and people born in the year of the dragon—which runs from today to Feb. 9, 2013—are supposed to be strong and successful. So many Chinese and Chinese-Americans are going to extraordinary lengths to ensure they have a baby born this year, reports the Wall Street Journal . One Los Angeles-based fertility clinic says it has seen a 250% increase in business in January from people of Chinese heritage, and an egg-donation clinic in Beverly Hills has also seen a 250% jump in egg contracts. More»