Sterile or fertile, look at a sperm protein

2005/06/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Biologia

The Izumo protein, which usually has the sperm, is essential for fertilisation. A group of Japanese researchers explains that the sperm that does not contain this protein has no problems introducing it into the egg, but is not identified with the egg, that is, not fertile.

It seems that the sterility of some men is due to a gene mutation that encodes this protein. This sterility cannot be treated directly for the moment, but in vitro fertilisation can be used to be a child, since fertilisation is achieved by integrating the sperm into the egg.