Approved Research

Exploration of genetic factors underlying infertility

Lay summary

Infertility is one of the critical issues of public health, affecting nearly 15% of couples worldwide. Nevertheless, reasons for a large proportion of patients with infertility remain unknown, in which multiple pieces of evidence supported genetic components. However, the genetic causes remain unexplained for a large proportion of male or female infertility patients. Without a genetic diagnosis, it is difficult for a clinician to counsel couples with questions about the causes of their infertility, the potential success of assisted reproductive technology, and their offspring's reproductive health. Moreover, elucidating the molecular basis of infertility is of paramount importance in understanding testis or ovarian physiology for providing evidence to investigate targets of molecular therapies like in vitro activation and providing genetic counseling and fertility guidance for patients. This project aims to uncover novel causative genes and variants involved in different kinds of infertility.