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Researchers find gene that could regulate fertility
Researchers in the United States have identified an ovarian gene that could regulatefertility in women, according to a study.
Researchers in the United States have identified an ovarian gene that could regulate
fertility in women, according to a study.
Researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development believe the gene could play a role in premature ovarian failure, which affects certain women over 40 years of age who have not reached menopause. The work of Dr Zhi-Bin Tong and his colleagues, published in the April issue of the magazine human reproduction, could lead to new insights into the causes of unexplained infertility in women, said Duane Alexander, director of the institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health.
In an earlier study the same researchers had identified a gene in female mice they called mater, which helps to produce a protein essential to the development of a fertile ovary. Without this gene, the mouse ovary cannot survive beyond the first cell division. In the most recent study researchers have identified a human gene that appears to be the same at mater, with 67 percent of its DNA identical to that in female mice.
If the human gene is found to serve the same function as the mouse gene, it may result in a new approach to the study and treatment of female infertility, said Lawrence Nelson, co-author of the study.
Bureau Report
Researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development believe the gene could play a role in premature ovarian failure, which affects certain women over 40 years of age who have not reached menopause. The work of Dr Zhi-Bin Tong and his colleagues, published in the April issue of the magazine human reproduction, could lead to new insights into the causes of unexplained infertility in women, said Duane Alexander, director of the institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health.
In an earlier study the same researchers had identified a gene in female mice they called mater, which helps to produce a protein essential to the development of a fertile ovary. Without this gene, the mouse ovary cannot survive beyond the first cell division. In the most recent study researchers have identified a human gene that appears to be the same at mater, with 67 percent of its DNA identical to that in female mice.
If the human gene is found to serve the same function as the mouse gene, it may result in a new approach to the study and treatment of female infertility, said Lawrence Nelson, co-author of the study.
Bureau Report