Researchers improve technology to save sperm stem cells
Adult men can have their sperm frozen before undergoing radiation or chemotherapy , both of which can render sperm infertile. But boys who haven't been through puberty can only have sperm stem cells removed and frozen in anticipation of technology that could culture the cells and place them back in the testes, where they produce sperm after puberty. Jon Oatley, an associate professor in the WSU School of Molecular Biosciences and director of the Center for Reproductive Biology, said he and his colleagues are well on their way to developing such a technology. "I think it's going to become the standard by which everybody cultures their cells, including trying to develop conditions for human cells," said Oatley. He and his colleagues -- graduate student Aileen Helsel and lab manager Melissa Oatley -- report on the new technique in the journal Stem Cell Reports . Stem cell can produce 5,000 sperm Fewer than 1 percent of the nation's cancer cases involve ch...