Biotechnology UK CU – As the global fertility rates decline, where some countries such as South Korea and Japan have hit crisis mode and many European countries have now gone below replacement levels. Many countries have given incentives fearing the consequences of low birth rates and given incentives to have an extra child, however many scientists have also been concerned about the possible environmental and dietary impact on fertility and have been looking at scientific solutions to this global issue.
The discovery of a new protein MAIA named after the Greek goddess of motherhood could present a possible solution. The MAIA protein assists sperm fuse to an egg playing a crucial role in fertilization. The researchers indicated that the new discovery could help medical experts develop better solution as the causes of infertility are unclear in over half of the persons who cannot conceive naturally.
The initial study saw an international team of researchers led by the University of Sheffield form artificial eggs using 1000s of beads, where every single bead had a unique peptide on the surface which allowed sperm to bond with them. The scientist then noticed that only the beads with the MAIA protein bound with the sperm.
This was followed by the insertion of the gene corresponding to MAIA into human culture cells, which resulted in them becoming receptive to sperm similar to natural fertilization, which meant that, MAIA is directly responsible for bringing sperm into the egg.
Professor Harry Moore, Lead Investigator of the study from the University of Sheffield’s School of Biosciences stated that as the reasons for Infertility are unclear in more than half the people who are unable to conceive naturally, much of the research into it has been hampered by ethical factors.
“The ingenious artificial fertilisation technique which enabled us to identify the MAIA protein will not only allow scientists to better understand the mechanisms of human fertility, but will pave the way for novel ways to treat infertility and revolutionise the design of future contraceptives” said Professor Moore.
