Fertility Hope as Study Shows Eggs Survive in Older Ovaries
Australian researchers have made a significant discovery that could change the way the female reproductive system is viewed.
Challenging the idea that women have a set number of eggs from birth, scientists from Prince Henry’s Institute as well as Monash’s Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology have found that female mice actually have a renewable supply of eggs in their ovaries.
In their research, investigators found that healthy female mice are able to maintain their overall supply of eggs for longer than previously thought and did not display signs of egg quantity decline.
This suggests that the mice have some way of renewing or replenishing their egg stores, although researchers weren’t exactly sure just how they did this.
While investigators acknowledged that this findings may not hold true in humans, learning just how mice renewed their egg supplies could give scientists an idea of how to help some women with their fertility problems in the future.
Further research is needed in order to understand how the mice maintain their egg supply for so long.
Photo credit: My little mouse friend, by Todd Huffman, on Flickr
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Category: Fertility, Old Eggs, ovarian reserve, research
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