FURTHERSTUDIES ON STERILITY PRODUCED IN MALE MICE BY DEUTERIUMOXIDE

The authors have previously reported that deuterium oxide in the drinking water of either male or female mice produces sterility. An investigation of some of the conditions--with particular reference to time--of deuterium oxide treatment to produce sterile C{sub 57} male mice indicated that the sensitive phase of sperm production centered around the late prophase of meiosis. In some experiments, although D{sub 2}O was almost completely absent during maturation of the sperm, and when the mice mated, these sperm exhibited the effects of their much earlier contact with D{sub 2}O. No viable offspring were obtained from these matings. They concluded that the presence of D{sub 2}O during the late prophase and meiotic divisions interfered with the normal construction or division (or both) of genetic material. It was suggested that changes in the forces, principally hydrogen bonds, in macromolecules affected their structural characteristics and resulted in abnormal division. The objective of the experiments reported here was to determine the phases of embryonic development of the mouse at which the lethal action of deuterium oxide on sperm is manifested. These investigations on embryonic growth initiated by sperm developed in D{sub 2}O have yielded additional evidence that D{sub 2}O severely damages the genetic material of developing sperm, with resulting sterility of the male mouse