"The country must know its heroes!" - this slogan can certainly be used to call for more information about the "bait", which, in the opinion of the majority, simply participate in the process of fertilization and the birth of a new life. After all, they, spermatozoa, are really heroes. Their multimillion army is ready to die in order to meet the goal of only one soldier - a welcome meeting with the egg ...
Spermatozoon is a small, mobile male germ cell (gamete) formed in the seminiferous tubules of a testicle with a total length of 50-60 microns, the main function of which is to introduce male genetic material into the egg by overcoming the female genital tract. The fulfillment of this mission is possible only due to the specific, rather complex structure of the sperm.
As shown by the diagram of the structure of the spermatozoon in the figure below, despite the difference from other cells in the body, the structure of the human spermatozoon is typical and includes such cellular structures as the head, neck, body and tail (flagellum).
The ovoid male sperm head, in turn, consists of a much smaller haploid nucleus with a set of 23 chromosomes, which, after merging with the egg, forming a zygote, becomes a diploid organism with maternal and paternal chromosomes after comparison with other cells.
Under the plasma membrane in front of the head, covering the half of the nucleus in the form of a "cap", an acrosome of the sperm is placed. It contains enzymes of acrozine, which, upon contact with the egg, are able to dissolve its shell and allow the sperm to penetrate without difficulty. And for the fertilization of the egg, only the head with the sperm nucleus from the chromosomal hereditary apparatus penetrates into it, all the other organs of the male cell remain outside.
The middle part of the spermatozoon is represented by the neck and body, behind which is the tail - the organ of movement of the male gamete. Spiral mitochondria of the intermediate section entwine the cytoskeleton of the flagellum from microtubules and are responsible for the energy necessary for its serpentine movement forward. The speed of movement of the sperm is up to 50 microns per second or up to 1.5 cm per minute. A kind of fuel for this movement is fructose, which is contained in the sperm.
Types of spermatozoa and the sex of the unborn child
There are two types of sperm that affect the sex of the child: spermatozoa with an X-chromosome - gynospermia, when they merge with an egg, a girl is born, and spermatozoa with a Y-chromosome - androspermia, responsible for the birth of a boy. It has been scientifically proven that already at conception it is possible to determine with a high probability the future sex of the child. So, the more mobile, but having a shorter life span of androspermia during the ovulation period faster than the X-spermatozoa approach the ovum, which makes the conception of the boy more likely. Thus, the conception of a girl will occur more likely in the neovulatory period of the menstrual cycle, since less mobile gynospermia have a longer life expectancy.
Their level of maturity spermatozoa reach if they spend 2.5 months in testicles and half a month in appendages.
