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Science 27 August 1999:
Vol. 285. no. 5432, p. 1339
DOI: 10.1126/science.285.5432.1339a
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News of the Week

DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY:
Selenium's Role in Infertility Explained

Evelyn Strauss

New results may help explain the long-standing mystery of why selenium deficiency in lab and domestic animals makes their sperm fragile, leading to male sterility. On page 1393, biochemists report that a previously identified selenium-containing enzyme which helps rid developing sperm of dangerous reactive oxygen molecules, moonlights as part of the glue that holds mature sperm together. The result opens the door to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying normal sperm development, presumably in humans as well as in animals, say experts.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)