Biologist Plans Innovation to Reduce Menstrual Cycles to Four Times a Year

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Summary: Hongmei Wang, a biologist at the State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology in Beijing, is researching whether reducing women’s menstrual cycles from twelve to four times a year could preserve more eggs and extend the reproductive window.

Hongmei Wang, a professor and director at the State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology in Beijing, is researching whether reducing women’s menstrual cycles to once every three months could preserve more eggs and extend their fertile years. 

Science writer Anish Moonka drew wider attention to Hongwei Wang’s work on May 7, 2026, noting its implications for how modern women experience reproduction compared to their ancestors.

According to Anish, women in ancestral times had approximately 100 periods over their lifetimes, largely because pregnancy and breastfeeding paused ovulation for extended periods. Today, with later marriages, fewer children, and longer lives, that number exceeds 400. 

Hongwei Wang hypothesises that each cycle depletes eggs, and reducing their frequency could slow that depletion and push back the onset of menopause. Hongwei’s lab is pursuing three research threads. The first is the menstrual cycle hypothesis, currently supported by mouse data. 

The second produced a 2024 paper in the journal Cell Discovery, in which her team developed lab-grown stem cells, injected them into the ovaries of monkeys past their fertile years, and recorded restored hormone levels and one live birth. 

A small human trial involving 63 women with premature ovarian failure followed, resulting in four healthy births. The third thread, conducted in partnership with biologist Alfonso Martínez Arias in Barcelona, involves growing synthetic human embryos from stem cells to study a developmental window that has remained off-limits to researchers for decades.

Hongwei Wang has been direct about the risks. 

“When we stop ovulation, we save more eggs, but we also stop the body from making estrogen, and that molecule is absolutely vital for health,”  she told El País. Sustained low estrogen levels are linked to weakened bones and cardiovascular deterioration, and she stated she is still working to resolve that tradeoff.