Mussels could hold key to assisted human fertility rates: Aussie researchers

Australian researchers believe the common, blue mussel might hold the answer to improving success rates for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) patients struggling to conceive children.

The scientists, from the University of Western Australia (WA), have discovered a new way of mapping how the blue mussel's sperm fertilizes its egg.

The team believe the simple technique, which involved "racing" certain dyed and non-dyed sperm cells against one another, could one day be replicated with human sperm.

Although the shellfish has a relative simple DNA structure, the study's author, PhD student Rowan Lymbery said its reproductive mechanisms offered remarkable insights into more complicated organisms, like humans.

"What's great about using these sort of systems is that we can study these interactions in a lot of detail, the sort of detail that we can't in humans because it's quite difficult to see the sperm-egg interactions," Lymbery told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Wednesday.

"If we can understand what's behind the difference in fertility between different partners then it will be really important for assisted reproductive technologies."

IVF is a fertility treatment used by parents struggling - or physically unable - to have children. Despite costing thousands of dollars for each round of IVF, there is no guarantee the mother will fall pregnant.

Within the research study, published in science journal Nature, Lymbery explained why blue mussels - an edible seafood found across Australia and internationally - were perfect for the experiment.

"Blue mussels are what we call 'broadcast spawners'," Lymbery wrote. "They just expel the sperm and egg into the ocean and they have to sort themselves out, find each other and fertilize."

"It makes them really easy to work with in the lab," he added. Endit