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Tuesday, February 27, 2007 12:00 AM

The clock ticks both ways

Does sperm have an expiration date?
Catherine Price

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  • Tuesday, February 27, 2007 01:35 PM

    Conventional wisdom used to be...

    A woman is born with all the ova she'll ever have, while sperm are generated throughout a man's life. So it used to be thought that, while eggs got old, sperm didn't. Bad assumption; it seems that genetic damage accumulates in the precursor cells that divide to form the sperm cells, so even though the sperm is "new," its DNA isn't.

    This has been known for several years, so the news here is hardly surprising.

    —idlemind Read idlemind's other letters

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