Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel win the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work on optogenetics, which has revolutionized neuroscience.

Nature - AI predictions could help with pandemic preparedness, but they will need experimental confirmation.

Poor paternal nutrition at the time of conception shapes post-fertilisation developmental trajectory, fetal growth, and placental dynamics.

A University of Minnesota-led multi-institutional research team has discovered a highly potent small molecule that blocks Ebola virus entry by stabilizing the virus's entry protein and provides strong...

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Nature - Models of how the brain changes over time could help researchers to understand how diseases affect the organ later in life.

A new chemistry-based super-resolution imaging framework is described, enabling 3D, laser-free, highly sensitive and ultralong-term imaging of live cells which overcomes the limitations in spatiotemporal resolution associated with reaction-based imaging methods.

For successful fertilization, sperm must recognize and penetrate the egg coat, called vitelline envelope (VE) or, in mammals, zona pellucida (ZP). In abalone, sperm acrosomal protein lysin dissolves t...

The Future Conceived The Future Conceived podcast is the official podcast for the Society for the Study of Reproduction. In this podcast, you’ll hear about emerging scientists, new techniques, investigators from around the world, untold stories about our annual conference, and so much more!

Abstract. Efficient purification of specific RNAs from lysates remains a major challenge. Existing methods, such as MS2 tagging or oligonucleotide hybridiz

Researchers are alarmed that the procedure, which has not been rigorously studied, is advertised by clinics around the world.

Seminiferous tubules of the testes play an important role in sperm production, but their regulation remain unclear. This study shows that all the cell types that constitute the seminiferous epithelium...

Sci-fi procedure creates immature human sperm from stem cells, nurturing them on a mouse’s kidney.

A major goal in epitranscriptomics is to define the diversity of modified nucleotides in mRNA. Most candidate sites are discovered using transcriptome-wide mapping methods that rely on antibody enrich...

Depletion of the ozone layer has been traced mainly to the widespread use of industrial chlorofluorocarbon chemicals, but there might have been an additional culprit.

Nature - Stretching protein samples in all directions pulls molecules farther apart, allowing them to be visualized using only light microscopy.

Stretching protein samples in all directions pulls molecules farther apart, allowing them to be visualized using only light microscopy.

Ion channels coordinate diverse physiological functions through tightly regulated fluxes of Ca²⁺, K⁺, Na⁺, Cl⁻, and H⁺ across both plasma and intracellular membranes. In the reproductive system, ion channels have emerged as key regulators of processes essential for reproductive success. They control epithelial transport and ciliary activity in the oviduct, regulate uterine smooth muscle contractility and receptivity, and orchestrate sperm capacitation, hyperactivation, acrosome reaction, and fertilization. These functions require precise spatial and temporal integration of environmental cues, including bioactive lipids, pH, temperature, and mechanical forces encountered throughout the reproductive tract. Dysregulation of ion channel activity has been increasingly linked to infertility, pregnancy complications, and other reproductive disorders. Recent advances in live-cell imaging, super-resolution microscopy, electrophysiology and cryo-electron microscopy have transformed our understanding of ion channel architecture, regulation, and organization within specialized membrane microdomains in reproductive tissues. In this review, we highlight recent discoveries of ion channels and their regulatory mechanisms specifically in reproductive tissues, with a focus on emerging roles of potassium channel Kir7.1 in uterine physiology and calcium channel CatSper in sperm motility and discuss emerging questions that will guide future research in reproductive ion channel biology.

Kir7.1 is an essential potassium channel. The authors report cryo-EM structures in multiple states revealing how bioactive lipids modulate Kir7.1, and define a pharmacological landscape that identifie...

Abstract. Male fertility depends on sperm motility, which enables sperm to traverse the female reproductive tract to the site of fertilization. Soluble ade