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I knew it! lol Host, Executive Producer *The Julianna Forlano Show * WBAI & Progressive Voices Radio Network www.JuliannaForlano.com www.twitter.com/@juliannaforlano On Thu, Jul 23, 2015 at 3:15 PM, Mitchel Cohen <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > > https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22730313-500-semen-has-controlling-power-over-female-genes-and-behaviour/ > > THIS WEEK <https://www.newscientist.com/article_type/this-week/> > > > 22 July 2015 > Semen has controlling power over female genes and behaviour > [image: Semen has controlling power over female genes and behaviour] > > Semen says turn those genes on *(Image: CNRI/SPL)* > > THERE’S more to semen than sperm. In many animals, seminal fluid alters > both the bodies and sometimes even the behaviour of females. Human semen, > too, triggers changes in the uterus, and might have wider effects on women, > aimed at just one goal. > > “It’s all about maximising the chances of the male reproducing,” says > Sarah Robertson of the University of Adelaide in Australia. The effects are > most striking in fruit flies: seminal fluid can make the females eat more, lay > more eggs > <https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14820023-100-fruit-flies-go-to-work-on-an-egg> and > beless receptive to other males > <https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18424731-500-sleeping-around-boosts-evolution> > . > > Now a team led by Tracey Chapman at the University of East Anglia in > Norwich, UK, has found that male fruit flies selectively alter the chemical > make-up of their seminal fluid. In the presence of rivals, the males > produce more seminal proteins. “It came as a real surprise,” says Chapman. > “It’s a sophisticated response to the social and sexual situation.” > > Some of their findings were presented at the Society for Molecular Biology > and Evolution conference in Vienna, Austria, last week, including their > discovery that one of these proteins is a “master regulator” of genes. > Females exposed to it show a wide range of changes in gene expression. > > Chapman thinks this kind of seminal signalling is widespread in the animal > world. The semen of people, pigs and mice affects the female reproductive > tract, and the question is whether it can also produce behavioural > responses in female mammals similar to those seen in fruit flies. > > There have been claims that semen can do everything from making women > sleepy after sex to strengthening the emotional bond with their partner. > One 2002 study, based on a survey of 300 students, even found that women > whose partners did not use condoms scored lower on a measure of depression > <https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17423490-400-feeling-good-youll-never-guess-why> > . > > If that effect is real, depression in some people might be treatable with > artificial-semen suppositories. Gordon Gallup of the State University of > New York at Albany, who carried out the study, says a PhD student of his > has replicated the finding in a survey of 1000 women, but the results were > never published. > > In flies, seminal proteins can directly affect behaviour because they > enter the circulatory system, travelling throughout the body to the brain. > “They rapidly get to many places in the female,” Chapman says. > > From the female’s perspective, seminal signalling is usually nothing > sinister. According to Chapman, it’s an efficient way of getting a female’s > body ready to produce offspring as soon as possible. > > It’s not clear whether any components of human semen get into the > bloodstream, but it could be possible, particularly for small molecules > like hormones, says Robertson. She has shown that seminal fluid induces > expression of a range of genes in the cervix, including ones that affect > the immune system, ovulation, the receptivity of the uterus lining to an > embryo, and even the growth of the embryo itself. > > As for seminal signalling, she thinks it’s more likely to be indirect, > with semen causing the cervix to produce molecules that influence the rest > of the body. Her team is studying the effect of three microRNAs – RNA > fragments that affect gene expression – released by the cervix in response > to semen. > > Whatever the mechanism, both Chapman and Robertson say it’s plausible that > semen could have effects on women well beyond their reproductive tract. > > *This article appeared in print under the headline “Females heed seminal > signals”* > > By *Michael Le Page* > > Magazine issue 3031 <https://www.newscientist.com/issue/3031/> published > 25 July 2015 > S > <https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22730313-500-semen-has-controlling-power-over-female-genes-and-behaviour/#>Share > on twitter > <https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22730313-500-semen-has-controlling-power-over-female-genes-and-behaviour/#>Share > on email > <https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22730313-500-semen-has-controlling-power-over-female-genes-and-behaviour/#>Share > on pinterest_share > <https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22730313-500-semen-has-controlling-power-over-female-genes-and-behaviour/#> > M > <https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22730313-500-semen-has-controlling-power-over-female-genes-and-behaviour/#> > <https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22730313-500-semen-has-controlling-power-over-female-genes-and-behaviour/#> >