New Delhi, Nov. 9 -- Protein fibers in semen can help RNA enter sperm cells and reach mouse embryos after fertilization, researchers have found, revealing an unexpected transport role for a molecular structure more commonly associated with brain disease.

The study, published in Molecular Cell on October 26, identifies a route by which genetic messages outside sperm can travel into an embryo. The findings do not establish a new fertility treatment or show that these fibers affect development during natural conception.

William Mallen and Anthony Fitzpatrick at Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute and their colleagues investigated how amyloid fibers interact with RNA in seminal fluid. Their experiments combined molecular analysis, det...