This will be short. In direct contradiction of Akin and the other scientifically illiterate idiots opining about the female body's ability to magically shield itself from rapist (as opposed to non-rapist) semen, Science Now just published an article regarding recent SCIENTIFIC findings that, in fact, semen contains a protein that can actually trigger ovulation in multiple and perhaps the majority of mammalian species, quite possibly including humans. Emily Underwood's report excerpted below the squiggle.
(Note: revised to clarify the applicability of the study to humans).
New research confirms that the fluid in semen, long dismissed as primarily a vehicle for sperm, contains a substance that can trigger ovulation and other pregnancy-supporting hormonal responses in female mammals.The article explains that the protein referred to, NGF (neural growth factor), is present in the semen of most mammals including humans, and that the experiments they conducted demonstrated that semen from one species can have "a very potent ovulatory effect" across multiple species. I urge you to read the article itself, to understand some of the nuance. The exact mechanisms still need further research and study, and these were primarily animal studies, so it is likely scientifically premature to definitively state that these results absolutely apply to humans, at least that's my take on the story as written BUT, the fact that the results were consistent across multiple species strongly suggests that this is a basic function of seminal fluid.Like most female animals, women are spontaneous ovulators, meaning they release eggs on a fairly regular basis regardless of their sexual activity. A few animal species, however, such as camels and rabbits, release viable eggs only in response to sex. These animals are called "induced ovulators." For decades, scientific dogma has held that in induced ovulators, the physical stimulation of sex triggers hormonal responses within the female that lead to the production and release of eggs. In 1985, however, a group of Chinese researchers challenged this idea by suggesting that there might be an ovulation-inducing factor (OIF) in semen itself. According to veterinarian and reproductive biologist Gregg Adams of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, the hypothesis ran so counter to common wisdom that "people just ignored it. Me included." When Adams and his colleagues finally tested the idea decades later, they were taken aback by their results.
This research is "very exciting," says Sergio Ojeda, a neuroscientist at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland who studies how neurotrophins—the class of proteins that includes NGF—act within the female reproductive system. Scientists have wondered whether this type of NGF, which was once thought to act in only sensory areas of the nervous system, also plays a role in reproduction. The new study, he says, indicates that NGF in male sperm actually travels through the female bloodstream to the brain, causing her hypothalamus and pituitary gland to release the hormones required for pregnancy. Although the precise mechanisms by which NGF is acting on the pituitary gland and hypothalamus still need to be worked out in detail, Ojeda says the research itself looks solid. The beauty of this study, he says, "is what is exciting about science. They decided to find out what the molecule was with no preconceived ideas at all. When they found it, it was extremely well done."
I just find it incredibly ironic that these two events happened with such synchronicity. Another Republican pretending to have inside knowledge about how science works, based upon his predisposed bibilical beliefs, having those beliefs refuted by GASP, actual science.
I wonder if anyone will get the chance to ask Representative Akin about his views of the experiments conducted by these scientists, and how he refutes the data found by these actual scientists.
okay, hate to hit and run, but just had to put this out there.