Early middle age is a difficult time, not least for male fruitflies when sperm production falls. The unexpected reason for this decline seems to be that, as tissues age, maintaining functional stem cells becomes difficult.
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Spradling, A. Makeshift sperm production. Nature 456, 583–585 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/456583a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/456583a
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