Tuesday 15 September 2009

Starving worms...

Well, I am not sure what it means for humans, but scientists in the States have apparently found that fasting can turn back the reproductive clock in worms!

A research team found that when adult worms were not given any food, they stopped ovulating and part of their reproductive system simply died off. When they were then given food again, the stem cells that had been left behind started producing new, fertile eggs. The old worms in the survey were able to produce healthy babies at a time when normally they would have been dead.

The researchers have made it very clear that there is no suggestion that going on a fast, or severely restricting calories, would lead to humans producing new eggs, but they hope that their findings might be used to help understand the mechanisms that control fertility. They are particularly interested to find out whether their research could have any relevance for women who are recovering from cancer treatments that can destroy the immature eggs in the ovaries might in fact be able to regain their fertility.

You can read more about the research here

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