Male infertility is commonly blamed on obesity, smoking, lingering STD’s, and/or low sperm counts. A lot of men blame women for their inability to conceive children. The narrative is usually is this–a woman looking for a remedy or doctor to figure out what’s wrong with her barren womb. But, the narrative might be shifting towards men and their mutated spermatozoids.
In a recent study reported on MSNBC, researchers found that men are having problems impregnating women because a lot of their sperm lack a gene that helps sperm swim through the murky mucus of the cervix.
Normally, the gene causes the production of a protein called beta-Defensin 126 or DEFB126, which coats the surface of sperm. When the gene is mutated, the protein is missing, and the sperm have that problem in transit, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis, in a report published Wednesday. Wives of men with the genetic variation were less likely to become pregnant than other couples and 30 percent less likely to give birth, the researchers said.
This is so sad since the best swimmer in the world, Michael Phelps, is a man. What has happened? Maybe scientists should give men’s sperm a floaty, so they won’t drown in the cervix.
Fortunately, just like the discovery of Viagra, scientists never leave men hanging (no pun intended) out there without a solution their penile issues. Medical professionals have a test that can I.D. the problem and help the patient.
For couples who have the genetic mutation doctors can use insemination to get the sperm right next to the eggs and overcome the handicap. If that relatively simple intervention doesn’t work, they can resort in vitro fertilization, even injecting a single sperm into the egg, if necessary.
So, if you see a man that parks in a handicap spot and walks wherever he’s going normally–don’t hate–he might be one of many man who are walking around with mutant sperm.