Chicago: According to US scientists, a single gene may be fundamental for the concluding phases of sperm cell constitution and could help enlighten that why several men are unfertile.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill detected that laboratory mice lacked the genetic material had a considerably inferior count and were unfertile.

And the a small number of sperm count the mice did fabricate had notable defects, they told.

Yi Zhang, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the university's school of medicine, said, “Because this gene has a very specific effect on the development of functional sperm, it holds great potential as a target for new infertility treatments.”

About one in six couples in the United States has difficulty conceiving a child, according to the National Institutes of Health. In 30 to 40% of these 2.6 million couples, the men are infertile.

Zhang’s study concentrated on the final stage of sperm cell creation called ‘spermiogenesis’. During this stage, DNA is jammed into a tense ball at the sperm head, guaranteeing that it can effectively infiltrate an egg.

Mice spawned to be short of a gene responsible for this action created few mature sperm, and the few that were formed had abnormally shaped heads and immobile tails.

Zhang said, “This gene is very important in controlling key genes that are involved in compacting the DNA.”

In the mutant mice, the specialists discovered a shortcoming in sperm DNA packaging. The mice also had smaller testes, but Zhang told this was because the testes were not crammed with sperm as they should be.

Zhang told that more work required to be done to find out whether this same fault causes infertility in men.