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Science Quickly

Diagnosing Male Infertility with a Mechanical Engineering Twist

Science Quickly

Scientific American

Science

4.2639 Ratings

🗓️ 28 May 2025

⏱️ 10 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Male infertility is undercovered and underdiscussed. If a couple is struggling to conceive, there’s a 50–50 chance that sperm health is a contributing factor. Diagnosing male infertility is getting easier with at-home tests—and a new study suggests a method for testing at home that would be more accurate. Study co-author Sushanta Mitra, a professor of mechanical and mechatronics engineering at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, joins host Rachel Feltman to discuss how lower sperm adhesion could be used as a proxy for higher sperm motility. Recommended reading: Read the study: https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/admi.202400680 Are Sperm Counts Really Declining? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-sperm-counts-really-declining/  Wiggling Sperm Power a New Male Fertility Test https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wiggling-sperm-power-a-new-male-fertility-test/  Tell us what you think! Take our survey for the chance to win some SciAm swag! http://sciencequickly.com/survey  E-mail us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Alex Sugiura with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Understanding the human body is a team effort. That's where the Yachtel group comes in.

0:05.8

Researchers at Yachtolt have been delving into the secrets of probiotics for 90 years.

0:11.0

Yachtold also partners with nature portfolio to advance gut microbiome science through the global grants for gut health, an investigator-led research program.

0:20.1

To learn more about Yachtolt, visit yawcult.co.

0:22.7

.jp.j. That's Y-A-K-U-L-T.C-O.JP. When it comes to a guide for your gut, count on Yacult.

0:44.5

First For Scientific American Science quickly, I'm Rachel Feldman.

0:59.0

The World Health Organization estimates that infertility impacts one in six adults globally.

1:04.1

But when it comes to addressing infertility, male partners are often left out of the equation.

1:12.6

Some studies suggest that in 18 to 27% of cases where a heterosexual couple seeks medical help for fertility issues, doctors won't bother to run any tests on the man.

1:16.6

Those stats might make you think male fertility issues are rare, but that's definitely not the case.

1:21.6

According to some estimates, male fertility issues are the sole cause of infertility in some 20% of cases and contribute

1:28.4

to the problem in another 30 to 40% of cases. In other words, if a couple is having trouble

1:33.9

conceiving, there's about a 50-50 chance that sperm-related issues are a factor. Perhaps because of

1:40.7

the stigma around talking about and testing for male infertility, there hasn't been

1:45.1

much innovation in those diagnostics.

1:48.0

That's starting to change, with at-home testing options popping up to offer privacy and

1:52.7

convenience.

1:54.0

But today's guest is pushing the envelope even further.

1:57.3

He's the co-author of a recent study that suggests folks could test some aspects of sperm health right at home without even sending their samples off to a lab.

2:06.0

Shashanta Mitra is a professor of mechanical and mechatronics engineering at the University of Waterloo in Canada.

2:11.9

Thank you so much for coming on to chat with us today.

2:14.4

This is a pleasure.

...

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