Fertilization – News, Research and Analysis – The Conversation

Some of the eggs and sperm in these tubes stored in liquid nitrogen may go on to form an embryo. Jens Kalaene/picture alliance via Getty Images

February 29, 2024

What is IVF? A nurse explains the evolving science and legality of in vitro fertilization

IVF is a decades-old procedure that has allowed increasing numbers of prospective parents to have children. Evolving legislation may put it under threat.

Scientists say that wasting coffee and water while making a cup of coffee has a larger carbon footprint than using coffee capsules. (Unsplash)

January 5, 2023

Here’s how your cup of coffee contributes to climate change

Luciano Rodrigues Viana, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC); Charles Marty, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC); Jean-François Boucher, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC), and Pierre-Luc Dessureault, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC)

Coffee capsules aren’t the biggest carbon culprits. It’s better to use a capsule than to waste coffee and water.

Science can observe these various phases of fetal development but cannot determine when human life begins. UrsaHoogle/E+ via Getty Images

June 27, 2022

Defining when human life begins is not a question science can answer – it’s a question of politics and ethical values

Sahotra Sarkar, The University of Texas at Austin

Some people seeking to influence public opinion about abortion rights claim the science is clear. It’s not, and that means abortion remains a political question – not a biological one.

A floral scent can be enjoyable for a person, but it has an important job for the flower. Richard L. Harkess

March 1, 2021

Why do flowers smell?

Richard L. Harkess, Mississippi State University

Not all flowers smell good, to people at least, but their scents are a way to attract pollinators.

Asexual reproduction can — through cell division, or meiosis — take place without the need for sperm. (Shutterstock)

February 18, 2021

Cryptic sex: How female and unisexual animals reproduce ‘asexually’ — without males

Root Gorelick, Carleton University

Perceptions about the role of sperm have changed over time, but asexual reproduction doesn’t need sperm for fertilization.

Getting the job done. A female Asian water dragon (Physignathus cocincinus) produced a daughter (left) without the assistance of a male. Skip Brown/Smithsonian’s National Zoo

December 15, 2020

Virgin births from parthenogenesis: How females from some species can reproduce without males

Mercedes Burns, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Parthenogenesis, a form of reproduction in which an egg develops into an embryo without being fertilized by sperm, might be more common than you realized.

May 11, 2020

Not all twins are identical and that’s been an evolutionary puzzle, until now

Joseph L Tomkins, The University of Western Australia; Rebecca Sear, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and Wade Hazel, DePauw University

While identical twins are seen more as an accidental splitting of a single egg, there could be a good reason mothers produce non-identical twins from two separate eggs.

When it comes to reproduction, couple have more choices than ever before. Chinnapong/Shutterstock.com

June 12, 2019

What the ban on gene-edited babies means for family planning

Marie Menke, University of Pittsburgh

A ban on clinical trials involving gene editing rules out the controversial procedure done in China. But it also prevents procedures that could offer couples a chance for healthy children without genetic disorders.

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