The University of the Western Cape has started a donor drive that aims to deepen understanding of male reproductive health and sperm function in South African men.
Associate Professor Liana Maree, who leads the Comparative Spermatology Laboratory, says the appeal is not for fertility treatment but for research into how lifestyle, genetics and environmental contaminants affect sperm structure and movement UWC .
We try to focus on healthy males to eliminate secondary factors. Donors fill in a questionnaire about their lifestyle - whether they drink, smoke, exercise - so we can ensure the samples are not affected by too many variables, she said.