The process of fertilizing an egg with a sperm cell was simulated using computer technology many years ago.
As it turned out, people for 350 years were mistaken about how exactly the male cells move to the female egg.
When driving sperm does not swing its tail in different directions, but moves it only in one direction.
Researchers from the UK and Mexico managed to find out this, the work was published in the journal Science Advances. To understand exactly how sperm move, the scientists used a modern, high-precision 3D microscope. They proved that the Dutch naturalist Anthony van Leeuwenhoek was wrong in 1677 in describing the swimming of sperm, which became the basis of the popular theory.
This discovery will help diagnose male infertility and improve the quality of sperm (more than half of cases of infertility in spouses are associated with problems in the male reproductive system).Recall
- how long can sperm live in a woman's genital tract?
- the egg itself chooses the sperm, and not vice versa.
- Getting ready to become a parent: how to improve sperm quality?
