“The most fascinating thing about evolutionary and reproductive biology – and science in general – is the possibility to discover something completely new,” Professor Jukka Kekäläinen says.
The principles of evolutionary biology can be applied to research addressing human reproductive health
“Broadly speaking, our research group seeks to explore how research into the mechanisms of evolutionary biology could improve our understanding of human reproduction and issues affecting fertility,” Kekäläinen says.
The fundamental idea behind Kekäläinen’s research is to examine whether infertility invariably is a disorder of the reproductive system, or whether it could – contrary to the current definition – also be caused by genetic incompatibility at the gamete level.
Genetic incompatibility is known to play an important role in the emergence of new species, i.e., in speciation, but its effects on individuals within each species are significantly less well known. In humans, this phenomenon hasn’t been studied almost at all.
“One of the main aims of our research is to examine whether the female reproductive system is capable of favouring sperm of men who are genetically compatible with the female’s eggs and, on the other hand, whether a similar choice can also occur between individual sperm cells of the same man. In other words, we are studying gamete-mediated mate choice taking place in the female reproductive system, which is one form of sexual selection.”
In the field of medicine, the effects of these selection mechanisms have not been studied in the past, and indeed, a longer-term goal of Kekäläinen’s research is to create new tools that could improve the accuracy of infertility diagnostics.
Research into the evolutionary and reproductive biology of fish also continues
Kekäläinen has a strong background in animal biology and, besides human reproductive biology, his interests include restoring the natural reproductive cycle of the landlocked Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar m. sebago.
“The landlocked Atlantic salmon is critically endangered. Nano- and micro-plastics, for example, may have a significant impact on the reproductive health of fish. This is also something that hasn’t been comprehensively studied in humans yet,” Kekäläinen says.
In many respects, research that combines evolutionary and reproductive biology is still in its infancy. The work done by Kekäläinen and his research group is pioneering, since gamete-mediated mate choice and genetic compatibility have not previously been experimentally studied in humans.
“To my knowledge, only one research article on this topic has been published so far, by a research group based in Sweden. It would therefore be great if our research could also open up new opportunities for multidisciplinary education enabling a broader combination of evolutionary biology and medicine, i.e., evolutionary medicine.”
Interest in the evolutionary perspective is nevertheless growing, and Kekäläinen has already been invited to present his group’s findings in the Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, which is the world’s leading conference in the field of reproductive medicine.
“For us, the most important challenges in the future include identifying the molecular mechanisms behind gamete-mediated mate choice and genetic incompatibility, and ensuring sufficient resources for this line of research to continue,” Kekäläinen says.
“Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to the Academy of Finland for funding our research, to all the volunteers who have participated in our studies, and to our partners without whom our research would not have been possible.”
For further information, please contact:
Professor Jukka Kekäläinen, tel. +358 50 467 4487, jukka.s.kekalainen@uef.fi
JUKKA KEKÄLÄINEN
- Professor of Evolutionary and Reproductive Biology, University of Eastern Finland, 1 April 2023–
- PhD (Evolutionary Biology), University of Jyväskylä, 2010
KEY ROLES
- Title of Docent in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Jyväskylä, 2019 –
- Associate Professor, Animal Physiology, University of Eastern Finland, 2019–2023
- Academy Research Fellow, 2017–2022
- Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship 2013–2015 (University of Western Australia)
