All articles tagged with #reproduction
A four-month-old neonate whale shark was spotted in Saleh Bay, Indonesia—the first such newborn seen there—which could indicate the bay as a birth or nursery site and offers clues to whale shark reproduction and habitat needs amid conservation challenges.
Scientists confirm parthenogenesis in sharks, showing females can produce offspring without mates. In a zoo tank, a bonnethead gave birth to a pup with DNA identical to its mother, a hallmark of unfertilised egg development, challenging assumptions about cartilaginous fish reproduction. Additional cases in bamboo sharks and sawfish suggest this may be an emergency strategy when mates are scarce, though such offspring often have reduced genetic diversity and viability. The phenomenon is mainly documented in captivity, with unknown implications for wild populations and breeding programs.
A Nature study shows naked mole-rat queens release isopropyl myristate, a scent that suppresses reproduction in other females, allowing the queen to monopolize breeding; the chemical fluctuates with the queen’s cycle, and blocking the smell can enable non-queens to reproduce, sometimes triggering colony upheaval until a new queen is crowned.
Georgia Tech researchers found that exposing worker bumblebees to low doses of the insecticide sulfoxaflor caused significant changes in gene expression, especially in ovarian tissues, suggesting potential reproductive impairment and possible impacts on colony health and pollination-dependent crops; the study highlights the need for pest management that protects pollinators amid ongoing pesticide use.
Researchers transplanted human iPS-derived immature cells into a mouse kidney pouch, where they self-organized into early sperm-supporting structures and developed into spermatogonia after six months. While this marks progress toward lab-made sperm, the cells did not mature yet, signaling further hurdles. The work offers a new avenue to study early human sperm development and infertility, though clinical applications are far off and raise ethical questions about future reproductive technologies.
A study of 120 bird species finds masturbation is widespread in both wild and captive birds, more common in males and linked to a species’ mating system; wild birds showed higher rates than captive ones. The researchers suggest it may serve as a sexual outlet, help clear sperm, or reflect an evolutionary pattern across lineages, challenging the idea that captivity causes stress-related acts. The work, published in Ecology and Evolution, indicates masturbation has an evolutionary basis across birds.
China conducted an on-orbit study aboard the Tiangong station using artificial embryos made from human stem cells to examine early development in microgravity. The two embryo models (one simulating uterine attachment and another using a microfluidic chip to mimic tissue formation) were cultured for about five days on the Tianzhou-10 supply ship, then frozen and returned to Earth for analysis, with Earth-based controls for comparison. The goal is to understand potential risks to human reproduction during long-term space habitation, not to create real babies in space.
Paleontologists have unearthed clusters of dinosaur eggs dating to about 72 million years ago, roughly the size of small melons. The discovery at a fossil site provides new insights into nesting behavior and reproduction in dinosaurs, enriching our understanding of late Cretaceous life.
A Yale-led study shows garlic does more than repel pests: when fruit flies and two mosquito species taste the garlic compound diallyl disulfide, it activates the TrpA1 receptor and triggers bitter/ fullness signals that stop feeding and, crucially, reproduction. The effect is taste-based (not smell) and wasps lacking TrpA1 are unaffected. This points to garlic-derived compounds as targeted, safer pest-control tools, and the researchers also introduce phytoscreen as a simple method to screen plant substances for behavioral effects on insects.
Cornell researchers demonstrated a proof-of-principle for nonhormonal, reversible male contraception by transiently halting sperm production in mice through disruption of meiosis with the small molecule JQ1. Fertility recovered after treatment ended, with most normal meiosis and healthy offspring upon breeding, suggesting a potential injectable or patch-based method for humans—though JQ1 itself isn’t suitable for human use due to side effects.
In a Science Advances study, researchers at the Salk Institute observed a rare peaceful transfer of power in a naked mole rat colony: after relocating the Amigos colony, the reigning queen Teré paused reproduction for almost a year, two of her daughters began reproducing in sequence, and Arwen ultimately became the new breeding queen by the end of 2025, showing that even highly eusocial mammals can exhibit flexible, nonviolent queen succession.
A 20-year mouse cloning study from the University of Yamanashi shows that repeating cloning builds up genome-level damage, reduces fertility, and cannot sustain a mammal line beyond 58 generations—the last generation died soon after birth—despite producing over 1,200 clones from a single donor, indicating current nuclear-transfer cloning methods have a hard biological limit.
New microgravity experiments using a tiny obstacle course showed human and mouse sperm navigated about 50% less effectively in space-like conditions, resulting in roughly a 30% drop in fertilization. While some sperm still reach the egg and may form higher-quality embryos, embryo development in weightlessness could pose major challenges, suggesting space reproduction may be possible only for the fittest sperm and with careful embryo protection as NASA pursues Moon and Mars settlements.
Adelaide University researchers tested human, mouse, and pig sperm in a device simulating microgravity, finding that sperm struggled to navigate a maze mimicking the female reproductive tract and showing about a 30% reduction in successful navigation under zero gravity, underscoring gravity as a key factor in early reproductive success during space conditions.
A University of Adelaide study used a 3D clinostat to simulate microgravity and found that sperm from humans, mice, and pigs had about 30% fewer chances to reach eggs in microgravity, while embryos formed under these conditions initially appeared stronger but degraded with longer exposure. The results suggest mammalian reproduction in space could be highly challenging for long-term space settlements, though future work could explore partial gravity (Moon/Mars) and potential IVF advances on Earth.