human reproduction

A clinician prepares cells for in vitro fertilization, or IVF, the treatment for infertility. In the future, it could be joined by IVG, in vitro gametogenesis, a new process that could turn any cell first into a stem cell and then into a sperm or egg cell.

Health & Safety

Creating a sperm or egg from any cell? Reproduction revolution on the horizon

7:00am May 27, 2023

by Rob Stein

Researchers are inching closer to creating human eggs and sperm in the lab that carry a full complement of anyone's DNA. It could revolutionize fertility treatment and raises huge ethical questions.

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The surprising science of how pregnancy begins

10:02pm April 12, 2023

The start of pregnancy — as well as exactly when that happens — is a hot topic in some state legislatures and U.S. courts. Understanding the nuances of what happens when has never been more important.

A light micrograph of a primitive human embryo, composed of four cells, following the initial mitotic divisions that ultimately transform a single-cell organism into one composed of millions of cells.

Embryo Research To Reduce Need For In Vitro Fertilization Raises Ethical Concerns

9:10pm January 15, 2020

by Rob Stein

Aiming to find a cheaper, easier way than IVF to ensure human embryos are healthy before implantation, researchers paid women to be inseminated, then flushed the embryos from their wombs for analysis.

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A Massachusetts woman who had an abortion when she was 15 stands outside the Suffolk County Courthouse in Boston. Right now, girls facing that decision who don't want to tell their parents must get a judge's approval.

Massachusetts May Drop Requirement That Minors Get Permission For Abortion

7:21am January 02, 2020

by Martha Bebinger

The state now requires women and girls under 18 to obtain permission from their parents or a judge. But in a recent poll, most Massachusetts voters favored letting minors decide on their own.

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Big muscles help young men find mates. But as men get older, losing muscle mass and testosterone might actually aid in reproduction.

Flabby And Fertile: How Men Age Could Be Huge For Humans

2:13pm September 21, 2016

by Rae Ellen Bichell

When men put on a gut and grow love handles it's not such a bad thing, according to a Yale anthropologist. That pudge might help them reproduce and pass on longevity genes to their offspring.

The creation of eggs from skin cells and genetic screening of embryos could transform in vitro fertilization for the masses.

Will Genetic Advances Make Sex Obsolete?

2:57pm June 16, 2016

by Aurora MacRae-Crerar

Before long, human embryos will be made so easily in the laboratory that many people will choose that route for having children. The option would offer genetic control at an ethical price.