A synthetic version of the sperm-originated protein known as PAWP can be used to treat male infertility, researchers from Queen's University in Canada found.

The research team says PAWP is adequate to start the fertilization process. The experts say they can diagnose and treat cases of male factor infertility, in which a patient's sperm is not capable of inducing activation of the egg.

"PAWP is able to induce embryo development in human eggs in a fashion similar to the natural triggering of embryo development by the sperm cell during fertilization," Queen's University researcher Richard Oko said.

Oko worked along with his former doctoral students Mahmoud Aarabi, Clifford Librach and Hanna Balakier at the CReATe Fertility Center in Toronto. Because most human infertility treatments are performed by injecting a single sperm directly into an egg, supplementation of human sperm with PAWP protein might improve the success rate of infertility treatments, according to the study.

The study's findings might help physicians improve their diagnoses and treatment of infertility, a problem that affects roughly 10 to 15 percent of couples worldwide.

The study was published in the FASEB Journal.