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Are sperm living creatures?
You know, like a tadpole but much smaller? If not, how do they move, and how in the world do they know to penetrate an egg? In a nutshell, What are they?
10 Answers
- Anonymous1 decade agoFavorite Answer
Sperm are the male gamete and are basically a nucleus containing 1 set of chromosomes wrapped up with a tail attached. They are very simple, consisting of a small amount of parts. Sperm are technically living, as they perform cellular respiration. They "know" how to penetrate the egg because of chemotaxis, the directed movement toward a chemical signal. When the woman has her orgasm, if there is sperm present, coagulants in the semen help solidify the sperm mass and the contractions will bring the mass towards the uterus. After this happens, anticoagulants also located in the semen make the semen more liquid, which then allows the sperm to swim towards the chemical signal, the egg. Once they reach it, however, usually only 1 sperm can fertilize the egg. There is a special region in the sperm's head called the acrosome, that when it fertilizes the egg, an acrosomal process will puncture the egg, and chemical reactions will allow the sperm to enter the egg.
To prevent multiple sperm from fertilizing the egg, the egg has both a fast and slow block to polyspermy. The fast block happens within a matter of seconds, a depolarization of the egg with Ca2+ ions. After this, granules will fuse with the egg membrane, providing the egg with a fertilization envelope.
Source(s): AP Biology - Anonymous1 decade ago
Have you seen a sperm through a microscope? They swim, just like a tiny tadpole. They may not have thoughts, rather, they instinctively are attracted to the egg, and know what to do when they find it. Some force guides them along that journey.
- Terry RLv 61 decade ago
Sperm are literally half-living creatures. They are haploid cells, meaning they only have half the chromosomes needed for a complete cell. When the select few have reached the egg, the egg has chemical signatures written all over it that each sperm cell knows how to read. The sperm relentlessly work on the egg's membrane until one of them enters. At that moment the egg "closes the door" to all other sperm. Nine months later we have a baby. That is the sole purpose of sperm.
- 1 decade ago
Sperms are living creatures. They are classified as cells or microorganisms. They contain more mitochondria than a normal cell would have. Mitochondria is an organelles that produce energy for a cell. Since sperms need to move, they need more mitochondria.
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- 1 decade ago
sperms are single cells. just like an ordinary cell, just that they have a tail which help them to move, so they do look like they are some kind of animal but they are not. thetail move because the nucleus tell the tail to move as the nucleus controls everything. to me its just a mobile cell that is all. nothing spectacular about it.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
They're single celled organisms, like all of your body is composed of. They don't know to penetrate an egg, they swim out randomly in the juices. Most of them die on their journey.
- hwinnumLv 71 decade ago
They are alive, but they aren't creatures. There is no nervous system or ability to mature like a tadpole has.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
They appear that way. They are single cells, gametes.
- 1 decade ago
they are living cells like skin cells or liver cells, but their specialized from reproduction
- 6 years ago
i hate sprem im never having sex its to gross i dont want no ******* kids and also i hate all females in this world