JERUSALEM, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) — Israeli and Austrian researchers have discovered that the brain plays an important role in protecting fertility from damage caused by high temperatures, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said in a statement Monday.
The study, published in Current Biology, found that the brain can detect heat and send signals to reproductive cells, helping them cope with stressful conditions before serious damage occurs.
The researchers studied the Caenorhabditis elegans roundworms and found that nerve cells use small RNA molecules to communicate with reproductive cells.
When this signaling system was disrupted, the worms became largely infertile at high temperatures because their sperm did not develop properly, the researchers said. Restoring the signaling in nerve cells greatly improved fertility.
The findings could help scientists better understand how global warming affects animal fertility, offering new insights into how the brain helps the body respond to environmental stress. ■
