Extract from The Infertility Trap by Laureate Professor John Aitken, Scientific Director at Memphasy.
Regulators should be aware of the potential threat posed by toxicants in the environment of human fertility. The profile of reproductive toxicology needs to be raised such that every new compound released into our ecosystems has been rigorously tested for reproductive impacts.
We need more mechanistic studies that are reflective of the toxicant doses, combinations and durations of exposure that might be encountered in real-life situations. No single environmental factor is responsible for human infertility; it is the accumulated impact of many minor contributors that, when played against a susceptible genetic background, over long periods of time, can precipitate a state of infertility in both men and women. We now need to identify what those various factors are and limit their presence within the environments we inhabit. We also need to make absolutely sure that additional reproductive toxicants are not released into our biosphere in the future.
A significant number of compounds with known reproductive health impact are still in regular commercial or therapeutic use and thus present a danger both to the workers involved in their manufacture as well as the victims who have been inadvertently exposed. Importantly, many of these compounds will be affecting not just the exposed adult but also, potentially, their children.
The global increases in everything from sexual ambiguity to asthma, allergies, anxiety and autism must have an environmental component judging by their rate of increase. Such developmental disorders may involve exposures of the mother during pregnancy or of the spermatozoa and oocytes generated by the parents in the lead up to conception. It is therefore important that the environmental protection agencies (or their equivalent) in individual nations work together to identify and limit population exposures to reproductive toxicants both now and in the future. Action starts with making reproductive/developmental toxicity a national research priority, accompanied by the implementation of a variety of public health actions, including hazard surveillance and primary prevention activities, particularly in vulnerable workplaces (Rim, 2017).
Extract from The Infertility Trap by Laureate Professor John Aitken, Scientific Director at Memphasy.
Our Felix™ device is the culmination of our ongoing collaboration with Professor John Aitken, a renowned figure in reproductive biology worldwide. The Felix™ utilises Memphasys’ innovative sperm separation technology, which is now in commercial production and available for purchase in early adopting countries like Japan, Canada, and New Zealand. We are currently conducting clinical studies and preparing regulatory certifications for markets in China and Australia.
We are thrilled to have Professor Aitken as a key partner as we advance our focused business development efforts in the assisted reproduction and fertility market. Together, we aim to create a world-class portfolio of devices, diagnostics, and media products that address crucial issues in human and animal reproduction.