UCLA Life Scientists’ Study of Abalone Yields New Insights into Sexual Reproduction
*Research could lead to techniques to improve fertilization in humans*
In new research that could have implications for improving fertilization in humans and other mammals, life scientists studied interactions between individual sperm and eggs in red abalone, an ocean-dwelling snail, and made precise chemical measurements and physical models of these interactions. They are the first scientists to do so.
By simulating the natural habitat of the abalone in the laboratory, the scientists were able to determine the conditions under which sperm–egg encounters and fertilization were most likely to occur. (more…)