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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Hopes of fatherhood: UBC scientists on frontier of high-tech male infertility research
A team of researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) is using artificial intelligence in an effort to detect hard-to-find sperm and 3D bioprinting technology with the ultimate goal of growing sperm in the lab — technologies they say could eventually help men with infertility become parents. The research, led by Dr. Ryan Flannigan, a urologist and associate professor at UBC, is aimed at addressing a "severe form" of male infertility called non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA), in which the body produces little to no sperm. It's a condition that affects about one in 100 men, many of whom are survivors of childhood cancer, according to Flannigan. "There's a big problem with infertility: it's so common," he told CBC's The Early Edition. "Something that I see time and time again is just how much of an emotional toll having challenges with infertility is." According to a UBC media release, about two thirds of male pediatric cancer survivors will face infertility in adulthood, due to the effects of radiation or chemotherapy. Globally, one in six couples struggles to conceive, and male infertility, broadly, plays a role in about half of those cases. Currently, the only treatment for NOA involves surgically extracting testicular tissue and searching for hard-to-find sperm under a microscope — a tedious process, says Flannigan, that can take hours and still might end in failure. "It's ... looking for a needle in a haystack," he says. "Right now, we're able to find sperm about 50 per cent of the time. We ideally need to find at least one sperm per each egg, among millions of other cells, which takes hours." LISTEN | UBC researchers use AI and 3D bioprinting in effort to tackle male infertility: To improve the odds, Flannigan says he and UBC engineering professor Hongshen Ma have developed an AI-powered tool that scans microscopic images to flag viable sperm for use in in vitro fertilization (IVF). The technology is still a long way from being available for people struggling with male infertility — Flannigan expects clinical trials for the AI tool could begin within the next three to five years. But for people who produce no sperm at all, including children who undergo cancer treatment before puberty and are unable to store sperm, a more experimental avenue is underway: lab-grown sperm. In what the UBC media release calls a world-first, Flannigan and team have bioprinted a model of human testicular tissue using stem cells and a specialized gel-like "bio-ink." The printed structure replicates the tiny tubes in the testes where sperm are normally produced. These bioprinted 'mini testicles' are encased in a special gel filled with specific nutrients and vitamins to help them mature. According to researchers, some of the cells have already begun showing signs consistent with the early stages of puberty — "a time when sperm production starts occurring in the human body." "What we're trying to do with 3D bioprinting is recreate what's happening in a healthy testicle as accurately as we can," said Flannigan. "If we can determine what the cells need to progress through all the phases of sperm production, we can use that knowledge to figure out how to create sperm for a patient with NOA," says Dr. Flannigan. The work is being supported by experts in microfluidics — a system that manipulates a small amount of fluids — and cancer biology at UBC and the University of Victoria, who are helping identify the molecular conditions required for sperm to develop. Still, researchers acknowledge there are significant challenges ahead. According to the UBC release, sperm production is a "highly complicated process" involving multiple cell types, complex anatomical structures, making it a task that demands collaborative, multidisciplinary research. Laura Spencer, a fertility coach in Vancouver, has experienced the emotional toll of infertility first-hand in her own family. "I've gone through infertility — male factor infertility in particular — and it's devastating," she told CBC News. "There's nothing quite like it." She said this latest development in treating male infertility could potentially be life-changing for many couples. WATCH | An at-home test is in the works to measure male fertility: "This shows a lot of promise for people who might not have the ability to try and conceive … they might actually be able to have a baby." Spencer says male infertility remains a taboo subject, despite being a factor in about half of all couples struggling to conceive. She hopes this research not only opens new medical doors, but also breaks down stigma. "There is a lot of shame and sometimes guilt around that," she said. "I'm always grateful when the conversation turns to infertility and when it's normalized." While Spencer believes most people would welcome these technologies, she says it's important to acknowledge the complexity involved, particularly with lab-grown sperm. "There will definitely need to be education around this," she added. "We don't know what the long term consequences are of this technology. Are there any birth defects that are possible? What about when they grow up? Like we don't know. This is just so new." As for concerns about the safety of AI or stem cell-based procedures, Flannigan says the research team is taking a cautious approach. "It's one of these things that we need to ensure that we follow all the guidelines to ensure there's no biases," he said.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
RCMP share details on deadly North Vancouver boat crash
North Vancouver RCMP Cpl. Mansoor Sahak sat down with CBC's The Early Edition Tuesday to share what details they have on the deadly weekend boat crash. Sahak said they're looking at speed and alcohol as possible factors, and that having a case on the water complicates their investigation.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
B.C. given C+ housing grade by task force — but builders say cities need to step up
British Columbia is falling short when it comes to building new homes, according to a new report on housing across the country — and some leaders in the housing sector agree with the report's findings. The Task Force for Housing and Climate, a group of 15 housing policy experts that formed in 2023 to make recommendations for governments across the country, commissioned the report. It gives B.C. a C+ for its progress on developing much-needed homes across the province. "British Columbia has instituted the most ambitious reforms, but their overall performance is undermined by high (and still rising) municipal development charges and some of the slowest permitting approval times in the country," the report says. No province received a better grade than a C+. Alberta, given a D+, was given the lowest grade, but it gave the federal government a B. The province says that it appreciates the task force's work, and its acknowledgement of "the progress we're making to build more homes faster." "Despite economic challenges, we saw a 37 [per cent] increase in housing starts in January 2025 and a 61 [per cent] surge in purpose-built rental unit registrations, showing strong momentum," a Housing Ministry spokesperson said in a statement. "With unprecedented provincial investment in non-market housing, we're on track to exceed our goal of 114,000 new housing units by 2027/2028, with nearly 92,000 homes already delivered or underway." Dan Winer, executive lead with the non-profit group Small Housing B.C., says the report does have some merit, but he says the province has made a lot of improvements that deserve recognition. "We agree with the overall tone of the urgency and the need for bold, drastic moves," Winer told CBC's The Early Edition host Stephen Quinn. "But at the same time, we disagree with the harsh grading." Winer says B.C. has been a leader in legalizing what he calls "gentle density" — adding more homes to existing properties by building things like basement suites and coach houses, or building triplexes and fourplexes on a single lot. "But gentle density is the chance to add homes to established neighborhoods and leverage existing infrastructure without fantastically altering the shape of the neighborhood or the community," he said. "We just think it's one of the most elegant solutions to adding more housing to our vast portfolio here in B.C." In 2023 B.C. passed Bill 44, which requires municipalities to rezone in order to increase small-scale, multi-unit housing. Some municipalities have pushed back, however, and have asked for more time to apply the bill to their official community plans and bylaws. Winer says some of the biggest obstacles to creating more housing in B.C. include high municipal fees, and unpredictable timelines that increase costs and slow down construction. The problem mainly lies with municipalities, Winer says. Casey Edge, executive director of the Victoria Residential Builders Association, agrees that municipalities are the leading obstacle of more housing. In the Capital Regional District there are 13 separate municipalities, each with their own municipal plans, that govern a total of about 400,000 people. "It's why we don't have LRT out to the West Shore," Edge told CBC's On The Island host Gregor Craigie. "Edmonton created their LRT in 1974 with the same population that we have in Victoria today and we're nowhere close." Edge points out that the province recently had to enforce its housing targets for Victoria suburb Oak Bay by releasing recommendations for the municipality. He wishes that Bill 15, the controversial infrastructure legislation that B.C. passed earlier this week to fast-track schools, hospitals and some private projects, had included housing as well. Permit and other development delays are a significant source of cost increases, Edge says, because builders still have to pay loans and taxes on land while they wait for the go-ahead to build.
CBC
28-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Vancouver approves updated plan for city's urban forest
Vancouver is aiming to cover nearly a third of the city in trees by 2050, up from the 22 per cent proposed in 2018 — the last time the city updated its strategy. This commitment comes amidst challenges posed by development and climate change, as well as ongoing inequity issues around tree distribution in the city. Stephen Quinn, the host of CBC's The Early Edition, discusses the plan with Joe McLeod, the city's associate director of parks responsible for urban forestry.
CBC
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
This B.C. woman is internet-famous for chopping wood. So, she wrote a book about it
When Nicole Coenen started posting wood chopping videos online, it was a bit of a joke. She was parodying social media star Thoren Bradley who posts videos of himself cutting wood and offering fitness advice. But Coenen soon became incredibly popular herself. "I sort of became the cliché woodchopper that I was parodying," Coenen told CBC's The Early Edition host Stephen Quinn. "[Thoren] is a great guy." Now, the 31-year-old "axe-pert" has millions of followers across half a dozen platforms — all pining for her next wood splitting video. WATCH | Nicole Coenen's guide to chopping wood: "It's funny how life turns out sometimes," she said. After three years of logging her passion for chopping wood online, she's just released a book full of advice and history about the world of wood chopping, titled Axe in Hand: A Woodchopper's Guide to Blades, Wood and Fire. Coenen, who now lives in B.C.'s Gulf Islands area, grew up in Ontario, and said she never really chopped wood as a kid. "Maybe once at Girl Guides." But she had to learn the tricks of the trade in 2020 when she was working on a farm in B.C.'s Kootenay region. "I was really bad at it, my aim was horrible, and I just couldn't get the wood to split," she said. Coenen joined a community group of woodchoppers who taught her everything she needed to know, and then, she was hooked. She had to learn everything there was about the best techniques for splitting logs. Using her skills as a videographer, Coenen spruces up her videos with quick, fun editing. While she takes the odd landscaping or labourer gig, she's carved out a full-time job creating social media content for the last two years. Not all her content focuses on wood; sometimes she gets personal, shares fitness tips for getting those toned woodchopper arms and even answers viewer questions. Coenen said some people bark sexist comments on her videos, but she's built up such a loyal following that she never has to respond — her fans are quick to defend her. "A lot of people almost, like, kind of have my back now or they are women that wood chop or they are women arborists," she said. "You really find your people on social media." Not one to sit on her laurels, she wrote a book. Axe in Hand, published by Cool Springs press in Massachusetts, aims to do something similar for those learning to sharpen an axe and cut a piece of wood. It includes the history of axes, tips on choosing the right kind of wood, and advice on restoring axes, how to stack wood and how to build a fire. "I wanted to sort of spark a lot of curiosity," Coenen said. "It's kind of like a choose your own adventure." WATCH | Nicole Coenen's power chop:
