A new study published in the Journal
Science, have discovered how eggs actually captures sperm in the fertilisation
process.
The research identifies the sugar
molecule that makes the egg sticky which plays an integral part in enabling the
sperm and the egg to stick together. Apparently researchers across the world
have been trying to figure out for years, what makes this process possible.
This study is believed to be able to
help address some of the unexplained causes and infertility and sub-fertility and
could also help in developing natural contraceptive agents.
For more on this subject, please visit
the link below:-
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/233038.php
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/233038.php
From the article:
"The international team, from the University of Missouri, the University of Hong Kong, Academia Sinica in Taiwan and Imperial College London, discovered that the sugar chain known as the sialyl-lewis-x sequence (SLeX) is highly abundant on the surface of the human egg. After experimenting with a range of synthesised sugars in the laboratory they went on to show that SLeX specifically binds sperm to an egg, and tested their findings using the outer coats of unfertilised 'non-living' human eggs.
"This exciting research is providing the first insights into the molecular events occurring at the very beginning of human life. The details we've discovered here fill in a huge gap in our knowledge of fertility and we hope they will ultimately help many of those people who currently cannot conceive," said Professor Anne Dell CBE FRS FMedSci from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London, who led the team that discovered the SLeX sugars on the egg surface."
"This exciting research is providing the first insights into the molecular events occurring at the very beginning of human life. The details we've discovered here fill in a huge gap in our knowledge of fertility and we hope they will ultimately help many of those people who currently cannot conceive," said Professor Anne Dell CBE FRS FMedSci from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London, who led the team that discovered the SLeX sugars on the egg surface."
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