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Devon knows her father is a thin man with hazel eyes and wavy brown hair -- but she may never know his name. A 20-year-old New York University student, Devon was conceived with sperm from the Milton S. Hershey Clinic at Penn State University through artificial insemination. After graduating from high school, she found a piece of paper in her parents' room with general information on her donor but nothing she could use to identify him. Devon, who asked that her last name not be used, said she isn't searching for her father with any urgency, but in her late...

A gene responsible for sperm production is so vital that its function has remained unaltered throughout evolution and is found in almost all animals, according to a new study. The results suggest the ability to produce sperm originated 600 million years ago.

With college tuition and fees up more than 440% over the past 25 years, according to the Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, it's not surprising that students are trying to make a buck any way they can. But jobs are harder to come by in the economic downturn, and that has had a peculiar side effect: In the U.S., more young men are turning to sperm donation as a part-time job. It's the reverse of trends in the U.K. and Australia, which are seeing sperm shortages, largely as a result of laws that give children the right to...

In promiscuous mouse species, sperm team up with their closest kin to give themselves an edge in the dash for the egg, a new study finds. Once inside a female, sperm cells can discern and—via structures on their heads—literally hook up with their brethren amid the crush of sperm from other males. (Related: "How a Man Produces 1,500 Sperm a Second.") The cells can then draft, Lance Armstrong-style, moving faster than they could alone thanks to more "engine" power from the cluster, said study co-author Heidi Fisher, an evolutionary geneticist at Harvard University's Hoekstra Laboratory. "It's really amazing that this...

Researchers in the US have genetically engineered fruit flies so that their sperm glows in the dark. The scientists from Syracuse University say that by making the fly's sperm glow green or red they can learn more about the battle to fertilise eggs. Scientists regard this type of sexual selection as a very important force for evolutionary change. The glow allows researchers to observe in striking detail what happens to live sperm in the female after copulation. 'Knocked us out' In nature, monogamy is often the exception, promiscuity usually the rule. But whenever a female of any species mates with...

Sperm cells have the consciousness of mind to make the journey to be born. When the sperm of two males is injected into the same female, they battle against each other to be born. The intelligence of sperm is displayed by their ability to somewhat sense the movements of the sperm of another male and they will even sacrifice themselves to ensure that the sperm cells of the male they came from make it into the female to be born over the sperm of another male.

FLASHY males have superior sperm - at least in the bird world. A study of wild great tits suggests that sexual ornamentation, in this case vibrant plumage, may reliably signal the quality of a male's sperm.

Researchers in Japan have found that female mice produced by using genetic material from two mothers but no father live significantly longer than mice with the normal mix of maternal and paternal genes. Their findings provide the first evidence that sperm genes may have a detrimental effect on lifespan in mammals. The research, which is published online (Wednesday 2 December) in Europe's leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction, found that mice created from two female genomes (bi-maternal (BM) mice) lived an average of 186 days longer than control mice created from the normal combination of a male and female genome....

Couples struggling to have a baby in the UK are turning to Danish sperm donors, after the removal of anonymity halved the number of British contributors. The world's largest sperm bank, Cryos Denmark, has targeted IVF clinics in Britain where top quality sperm can be sold for as much as £1,000. The company has 50 non-anonymous donors whose sperm has been frozen and will be ready for shipping over the next few months. A spokesman said Danish men would be ideal donors because they share genetic heritage due to three centuries of Viking raids and settlements along the east coast...

Females may be outwardly choosy when selecting sexual partners -- accepting or shunning mates in very public ways -- but males may get the last say in this battle of the sexes. New research found that males can adjust the speed and effectiveness of their sperm by allocating more or less seminal fluid to copulations. The determining factor is whether the male finds the female attractive. The study, conducted on red junglefowl, a director ancestor of chickens, adds to the growing body of evidence that males throughout many promiscuous species in the animal kingdom, including humans, can mate with many...

Women wanting to get pregnant should find themselves an ugly man, new research suggests. Scientists have found attractive males produce less sperm during sex. Researchers think good-looking males are biologically geared to hold back their sperm in each encounter to increase their chance of impregnating more females. But unattractive males know they are not going to bed so many females — so when they do get lucky they give it all they've got.

LONDON – British scientists claimed Wednesday to have created human sperm from embryonic stem cells for the first time, an accomplishment they say may someday help infertile men father children. The technique could in 10 years allow researchers to use the basic knowledge of how sperm develop to design treatments to enable infertile men the chance to have biological children, said lead researcher Karim Nayernia, of Newcastle University, whose team earlier produced baby mice from sperm derived in a similar way.

A U.S. appeals court says the Los Angeles 10-year-old is not entitled to Social Security survivor payments because of California inheritance law and lack of evidence the father gave consent. A 10-year-old Los Angeles girl conceived with her dead father's frozen sperm is not entitled to his Social Security benefits, a federal appeals court panel has ruled. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower-court ruling that the child, Brandalynn Vernoff, was ineligible for the federal survivor payments under California law, which considers factors in addition to biology in determining inheritance rights. Brandalynn's father, Bruce Vernoff,...

Size does matter, at least for the seed shrimp. The tiny creatures' giant sperm are an evolutionary strategy that stretches back at least a hundred million years, scientists discovered in a new study. The giant sperm can be up to ten times the animals' body lengths. By comparison an average sperm from a man is around 0.002 inch (0.05 millimeter) long, less than a thirty-thousandth of his height. To find out whether giant sperm is an ancient adaptation, researchers x-rayed the innards of five well-preserved seed shrimp, or ostracods, from hundred-million-year-old sediment from Brazil. Although the giant sperm had rotted...

Business is booming for the world's biggest sperm bank, Denmark's Cryos, which is struggling to meet demand despite a soaring number of donors and new offices opening around the world. At Cryos headquarters in Denmark's second-biggest city Aarhus, chief executive Ole Schou smiles broadly, sitting at his desk adorned with pictures of cheerful babies as he speaks of the company's unexpected success. Two years ago, he was ready to shut down the business, or at least move it abroad, because of a Danish tax authority proposal that would have required donors to declare income from their donations, thereby putting their...

Short on cash, some put a price on themselves Lean times spurs interest in payment for sperm, eggs, plasma — even hair By JoNel Aleccia Fri., Dec. 5, 2008 Before this fall, it might not have occurred to Michael Aylesworth to swap his sperm for money. But faced with rising bills, a dwindling budget and a fractured economy, the 30-year-old Seattle man took stock of some very personal assets — and decided to sell. “I did it because I’m a student and I’m always broke,” said Aylesworth, who spent several delicate minutes in a small room at the Seattle Sperm...

I wonder if Barry's Mom had concieved her child one week earlier. A blonde hair/blue eyed child. What would Barry thrive for now as a politician. Change? Peta? Or a great National Fotball team? Cricket? Perhaps and Tea at Noon. How would his absent Fathers genes come into play? Interesting thought. I asked my son. What if your father was a black man... You are with a Mom who cares and loves you/Dad absent (German/me Swede)and you are severely disabled a quad. Yet you have this Charisma and social ability that is overwhelming at times with your political insight and...

The widow of a soldier killed in Iraq this week wants to harvest her husband's sperm before he's embalmed. He was stationed at Fort Benning. Yesterday his wife filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and an injunction to stop her deceased husband's remains from being altered until his sperm can be reserved. A judge signed that order Friday. The soldier's wife claims they planned to start a family once he came home. His sperm will be extracted within 72 hours, but the medical representative will retain custody until it is determined who has legal rights to the sperm.

· Law change could help cancer victims · embryo bill fuels impassioned debate Mps are planning a change in the law to allow babies to be conceived from artificial sperm, a move described by opponents as playing God with human DNA. A furious debate is building over how far to leave the door open to its use in IVF treatment, ahead of a Commons vote due shortly on the government's Human Fertilisation and Embryology bill. The legislation currently allows ...#8239;so-called artificial gametes in research, but imposes a blanket ban on their use in creating a human pregnancy. The technique involves...

Sperm donor pays maintenance to lesbians By Graham Tibbetts Last Updated: 8:42pm GMT 03/12/2007 A sperm donor who helped a lesbian couple have two children is now being forced to pay thousands of pounds for their upbringing, he said. Andy Bathie, 37, agreed to assist Sharon and Terri Arnold - who were united in a religious blessing ceremony - after they assured him he would have no involvement in raising the boy and girl. Andy Bathie: Legal challenge But after the couple split up he was tracked down by the Child Support Agency and forced to make regular maintenance payments....