This blog may help people explore some of the 'hidden' issues involved in certain media treatments of environmental and scientific issues. Using personal digital images, it's also intended to emphasise seasonal (and other) changes in natural history of the Swansea (South Wales) area. The material should help participants in field-based modules and people generally interested in the natural world. The views are wholly those of the author.
Saturday 29 October 2022
Vintage Sperm?
Human eggs and sperm are commonly deep-frozen, as insurance policies against the fertility-destructive effects of cancer treatments. It used to be the case, in the UK, that 10 years was the legal maximal period of storage of these gametes. Babies have now been born, on both sides of the Atlantic, circa 25 years after sperm were collected. The UK Parliamant has recently decreed that sperm samples can be stored for a maximum of 55 years (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/oct/28/miracle-baby-opens-debate-over-possible-use-of-centuries-old-sperm). Scientists point out, however, that the 55 year limit is entirely arbitrary. Human gametes could be stored almost indefinitely, raising the possibility of using frozen eggs and sperm to produce babies long after their donors have died. This raises lots of potential issues. Environmental contaminants appear to be progressively reducing human sperm viability. Consequently, deep freezing human sperm samples might be regarded as a necessary insurance policy. It could also, of course, lead to women selecting sperm from admired, famous, historial figures to 'father' their child. It's also currently unclear what the children, generated by the use of gametes from long-dead donors, would make of their 'inheritance'. In the UK, adopted children, as well as others produced by artificial insemination, currently have the 'right' to be accurately informed about their origions. How they would handle being told they were derived from the eggs/sperm of long-dead individuals (perhaps their great-grandparents?) has not been assessed. It seems like a can of worms?
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What's In a Critter's Name? 47. Bongo
It's likely that the name Bongo comes from the Kele language of Gabon. It may mean 'antelope'.
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The UK government continue their quest to turn England's rivers back into sewers. They first facilitated the privatised water companies...
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Garden plants in France, The Netherlands, The UK and Sikkim (NE India).
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