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Why Do We Inherit Mitochondrial DNA Only From Our Mothers?

Our mitochondrial DNA accounts for a small portion of our total DNA. It contains just 37 of the 20,000 to 25,000 protein-coding genes in our body. But it is notably distinct from DNA in the nucleus. Unlike nuclear DNA, which comes from both parents, mitochondrial DNA comes only from the mother. Nobody fully understands why or how fathers’ mitochondrial DNA gets wiped from cells. An international team of scientists recently studied mitochondria in the sperm of a roundworm called C. elegans to find answers.

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These Feminine Smells Get Sperm Moving

Sperm are the cheetahs of the microscopic world: Made of little more than molecular muscle and batteries, tipped with a payload of genetic information, they are optimized for speed. But to orient themselves before their epic, seven-inch sprint (it’s more impressive if you’re less than one three-thousandth that size), they first need to sniff out the location of the egg—and, it turns out, the analogy to the sense of smell may be particularly apt.

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GOP Objection kills Senate Funding for Military Fertility Program

In January the Pentagon launched a pilot program that allowed U.S. troops to freeze their sperm and eggs before deployment. Defense Secretary Ash Carter lauded it as a way that service members could preserve their reproductive cells in case they suffered catastrophic wounds or merely wanted to put off having children. Now the program might be heading for a quick demise: On Tuesday, the Republican-led Senate voted 85-13 to approve a $602 billion military spending bill for 2017 that stripped funding for the program.

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China’s Call to Young Men: Your Nation Needs Your Sperm

If you’re a man in China between 20 and 45, the government has a message for you: For the sake of your country, please donate sperm. China’s sperm banks are facing severe shortages, for a variety of political and cultural reasons. Comparatively few Chinese men offer to donate, and a study found that almost half of those who do volunteer are screened out. Now that government policy allows more Chinese couples, including older couples, to have a second child, officials are concerned that the sperm shortages will get much worse — and they are doing everything they can to find new recruits.

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Olympic Gold Medalist , Wary of Zika, Will Freeze His Sperm Before Rio Games

For months, the question bugging Olympic athletes hasn’t been about what they’re doing on the field or track, or in the pool or gym, in preparation of this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. It’s whether they’re going to attend the Brazil-hosted Games at all. There is good reason, too. With the mosquito-spread Zika sweeping across the Americas, spending two weeks near the epicenter of the virus probably doesn’t sound too appealing. But, hey, it is the Olympics. Which is why athletes are doing what they must to ensure their health and the health of their family members — current and future, apparently. Worried about the potential effects of the virus, Britain’s Greg Rutherford is taking an unorthodox measure in that regard. He will be freezing a sample of his sperm before traveling to Brazil.

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B.C. Families Sue U.S. Sperm Bank After ‘Genius’ Donor Turns Out to be Felon with Mental Health Issues

A sperm donor billed as a genius turned out to be a convicted felon with serious mental health problems, according to lawsuits filed in B.C. Supreme Court.The man who donated sperm to two Vancouver families so that they could have children through artificial insemination was falsely characterized and improperly screened.