Help for infertile men: Sperm made in the lab

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This week researchers reported on an exciting advance that could eventually make it possible for men who produce little or no sperm to have children that are biologically their own. The UK site Telegraph.co.uk was among the first to report the scientists in Germany and Israel were able to grow mouse sperm using a few cells in a Petri dish. The study appeared in the November 7, 2011 issue of the Asian Journal of Andrology.

The site quoted professor Mahmoud Huleihel of Israel’s Ben Gurion University as saying, “I believe it will eventually be possible to routinely grow human male sperm to order by extracting tissue containing germ cells from a man's testicle and stimulating sperm production in the laboratory.”

Two UK fertility experts were quoted by the Telegraph as saying this is a significant advance toward making human sperm outside the body, which would allow infertile men to father biological children.

Read this article to learn about some surprising causes of male infertility.

Are you dealing with male subfertility or infertility?

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