Studies into male infertility in Northern Ireland have been dogged by lack of funds, it was claimed today.

Research councils or charities across the UK spend less than 1% of their income on reproductive research compared with 9% on cardiovascular and 27% on cancer studies, a professor from Queen's University said.

Sheena Lewis has organised a conference in Belfast today which will discuss the latest developments in the field of fertility.

"Research into infertility has not been deemed strategic to health services or governments over the past three decades and so had been dogged by lack of funding," she said.

Infertility affects one in six couples around Europe and 40% of these problems affect the male partner. DNA damage to sperm is a major cause of male infertility.

Ms Lewis said stemming the falling birth rate with assisted reproduction would make a significant contribution.

"We are trying to develop diagnostic tests to give couples more information about the causes of their infertility and how to improve their chances of a successful conception," she added.

"We need to do this through multi-centred trials and this can only be done with increased government funding."

Sperm DNA can be damaged by lifestyle abuse including smoking, alcohol, drugs and obesity.

"Sperm DNA tests have a huge potential as they can determine the basis of damage so we can find ways to protect it," Ms Lewis added.