May 25, 2012

Connie K. Ho for RedOrbit.com

A new report published in the American Journal of Human Genetics (AJHG) states that previously undiscovered male fertility genes were identified and the new findings provide more information regarding human production.

The study, conducted by University of Chicago researchers, hopes to shine some light on the issue of male infertility.

Much of the research on fertility has looked at studies dealing with infertile participants. Likewise, it is thought that a certain stigma is attached to the subject of infertility because there isnt enough knowledge regarding the scientific causes of male infertility. As such, almost a quarter of infertility cases are unexplained.

Non-genetic factors, including alcohol and tobacco use, particular medications, and disease history, are also though to affect infertility.

Such studies have not been able to identify genes or pathways contributing to variation in natural human fertility, commented Carole Ober, the lead author of the study, in a prepared statement.

Obers past research has focused on finding genes that impact complex phenotypes to bring more understanding to evolutionary history and how the variations in genes can influence their functions. Besides the issue of fertility, her lab has examined phenotypes that are linked to common diseases. The studies on common diseases have highlighted phenotypes related to asthma and heart disease.

For this project, Ober and Glm Kosova, a graduate student at the University of Chicago, studied the Hutterites, a founder population. The Hutterites are a branch of Anabaptists that keep to specific religious and social beliefs.

The Hutterite environment is so remarkably uniform, Ober said in a University of Chicago article Medicine on the Midway when addressing the culture of sharing food and goods among the Hutterites.

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Study Finds Male Fertility Genes