Study: Infertile males can blame gene mutations

Scientists in Shanghai have discovered that a mutation at a specific location in a gene - mainly active in male reproductive cells - leads to male infertility. And they've figured out how it works, which is likely to bring new insights into treatment.

The scientists discovered that infertility results when a key step in the development of sperm cells is obstructed by the mutation at a domain called "D-box" on the gene Hiwi. Their findings were published recently on the website of the scientific journal Cell, which is based in the United States.

Before a sperm cell matures, the histones in genomic DNA must transform into another form automatically, so that the genetic materials from the male are stored in the sperm head in a safer and more condensed way, explained Liu Mofang, the lead researcher on the team at the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, a branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences.