According to the WHO, over 150 million people worldwide now have diabetes. The surge is in Type II diabetes, which afflicts adults over 30. Diabetes is one of three major new diseases that hardly existed 100 years ago: diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
In the May 3rd issue of Human Reproduction, Queen’s University researcher’s show a link between diabetes and low sperm quality. There was no significant difference in sperm concentration, appearance, or mobility. There was a small reduction in sperm volume. But the most significant affect was a higher DNA fragmentation, 53% versus 32% in non-diabetics. DNA fragmentation could affect the ability to fertilize an egg and even lead to abnormalities in an offspring.
Sperm DNA does not have the ability to repair itself unlike other DNA in the body. The damage is permanent.
The authors of the study admit more work is to be done, including analyzing birth defects in children with diabetic fathers.
Healthy sperm look like points of light. The DNA fragmented sperm have tails on the end.
As reported in the New York Times, a New Zealand company, Lanza Tech, has developed a fermentation process to convert CO to EtOH via bacteria. The intriguing piece? CO is a large waste product from steel manufacturers and other industries. Per ton of steel, a half ton of CO is generated. There is a potential for 50 billion gallons of ethanol production using this methodology. Emphasis on potential.
The funding for Lanza Tech is coming from Vinod Kholsa, co-found of Sun Microsystems. A conversation with Mr. Kholsa can be read here. Interesting article discussing the potential pitfalls of ethanol.
Oocyte cryopreservation. This is the fancy term for egg freezing. An oocyte is an immature ovum.
In the April 20th issue of Science, the increased usage of oocyte cryopreservation is discussed. Frozen oocytes is the future. Why? Unlike frozen embryos, there isn’t the ethical dilemna. It’s an unfertilized egg, no one considers that life yet. Frozen embryos have successfully been thawed and implanted via IVF. There have been about 300,000 frozen embryo births. However, frozen egg births are only account for about 300.
Back to the freeze. So why can’t we just freeze it and thaw it for later use? Sounds simple. Alton Brown will take it from here.
Last week’s inaugural event was a tremendous success. About 35 people learned about the Hayward fault, it’s destructive capability and the techniques being used to find out more.
For those of you who missed out: videos, pics, and Jack’s presentation have been posted on the Past Cafes page. You can download the video or watch it online.
DtaS is taking December off, we'll be back in January with another great event
Science in Action Events Science in Action is a series of tours, trips, and hikes intended to put you in the middle of active science in the Bay Area.
If you're interested in attending, send me an email.
