The elasticity of male fertility by means of phonon microscopy

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Fertility is a global-level multifaceted health problem where infertility and birth control are pressing concerns. Around 16% of couples worldwide are unable to procreate causing financial and emotional stress.One-third of male infertility cases cannot be diagnosed by any available test. In conjunction with this, sperm count has decreased in the last 50 years which suggests infertility will only increase. At the same time, population growth threatens sustainability given the finite availability of resources such as energy, farming land and non-renewable materials. These problems call for a better understanding of the biology of reproduction so the challenges of reproductive health can be addressed. With this new collaboration from the University of Nottingham and the National Autonomous University of Mexico, we aim to address some of the challenges of male infertility. We propose to use an interdisciplinary approach to use phonon microscopy, for the first time, to characterise the elasticity of sperm cells with sub-cellular resolution. We expect that elasticity can be used as a biomarker for sterility and can provide further insight into the understanding of the biology of fertilisation.