When we were first introduced to sex education, as schoolchildren, we were taught that it is only the strongest sperm that manages to "beat all its competitors" to reach and fertilise the egg. Nowadays, however, it seems we are lucky if we manage to find a partner who possesses any capable sperm, let alone strong ones. Yet, in a society that places "equal opportunity" paramount, perhaps it is unsurprising that even the most corrupt of sperm cells can now have their day, thanks to modern medicine.

IVF ICSI is a special form of IVF that is performed when there are problems with the male's fertility which would make it impossible to achieve fertilisation with normal IVF. These problems include not only low sperm count, but also low sperm motility and abnormal sperm, amongst other factors. Basically, in ICSI a single sperm cell is picked out, one that is alive and appears reasonably healthy, and this is injected directly into the egg. In the Centre where it was developed, ICSI has been shown to have a 60% success rate. The procedure is quite new, so it is unknown what complications could potentially arise; fears are that there is an increased risk of abnormalities in the foetuses and children produced by ICSI. Of definite concern is the fact that this technique enables men with extremely low sperm count to reproduce, when they could not otherwise. The Y-Chromosome is responsible for "maleness" and male fertility. Genes and groups of genes present on the Y-Chromosome are involved in the production of sperm, and low sperm count results when these genes are defective or missing. A male child produced through ICSI to rectify the infertility of his father is very likely to inherit exactly the same problem through being blessed with corrupt genes. Thus, we are effectively creating a species that is unable to reproduce naturally and is reliant upon artificial intervention. Already the fertility of our species is declining, with a study in Denmark showing that men who came into existence through "assisted conception" had 45% lower sperm counts than the rest of the male population.

Unfortunately, this is not the worst part of the story. IVF ICSI isolates reasonably capable sperm from the few that are available, but it cannot rectify corrupt sperm that are too badly damaged to do the job. Scientists are only just beginning to explore how DNA damage can affect conception, but already they speculate that sperm cell damage is the single most common cause of human infertility. DNA damage is caused by free-radicals, which are usually nullified by anti-oxidants in the body, but whose levels dramatically increase due to poor lifestyle choices. Smoking and bad diet are two of the most common causes of DNA damage. Thus, men who make bad choices and abuse their bodies should be effectively putting an end to their lineage. This should be an alarming wake-up call for a lot of men to turn their lives around and put a stop to the decline of our species. Yet, alas, modern medicine is fueled by modern society, and to have people refuse cigarettes, soft drink and processed meat is not in the best interests of the drug companies. Men can now take a single pill to cure infertility caused by DNA damage.

by Karen Julia

September 25, 2007