An Awesome Discovery Revealed Related to Sperm Motion
Highlights
- Scientists being unaware of the real mode of motion of sperm.
- Discovery made by Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek in 17th century.
- Reasons behind the false prediction made by the scientist in the 17th century.
- How this research could be useful?
Movement performed by a Sperm
According to scientists at the University of Bristol for the last 350 years, we are going on with a wrong perception of believing sperm to actually swim to reach the egg but now this perception has been proved wrong by scientists using the newest technology. According to some recent findings, it's being proved that sperms spin and not swim. We are already familiar with the fact that generally, every sperm has to travel a very long distance which could be even compared with climbing a mountain.
After putting in a lot of effort, a sperm reaches the egg for fertilization but question is that how does sperm travel this distance? Previously it was said by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in the 17th century that it is a “living animalcule” with a tail, which can swim, resembles the snake-like movement and it also looks like an eel swimming in water. So, this was how he described sperm as at that time but now the question arises that how a scientist in the 17th century was able to make this discovery?
Earlier Perceptions
Let's discover... Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was the first scientist to discover a microscope that could help in viewing the detailed site of blood cells, or even sperm or bacteria could also be viewed with the help of that microscope. That microscope was built up of a blob of molten glass that he very patiently crafted in such a way that it could emerge as a powerful lens. He carefully established it and then polished it. There were few of which were capable of amplifying an object up to 270 times. The most astonishing fact about the microscope creation is that it took almost 200 years to build a microscope consisting of much more advanced features.
As it took us nearly two centuries to create a new microscope with advanced features like a microscope with increased amplifying qualities this might have led to the situation where scientists did not try to discover further related to the sperm motion and they were stuck with the same theory as proposed by Antonie von Leeuwenhoek that was published around 350 years ago. Now when the times have changed people are focusing much upon the research field related to different aspects we have fortunately got to clear our doubts regarding the sperm motion which previously claimed the motion of sperm to be a swimming motion is regarded to be a wiggling motion in reality.
Modern Research about the Motion
This discovery was done with the help of 3-D microscopy technology. This new technology helped in examining the movement of the sperm tail in 3-D. This proved to be very helpful as in reality sperms are so small plus so fast with their movement that with the help of the previously available microscopes the exact theory could not be revealed thus the super-sonic camera having an amazing capacity of recording over 55,000 clicks in less than one second was something that was very much required by the scientists to study the exact movement of the sperm tail. Guess what scientists found? They got to know that sperms do not swim but wiggle. It is the illusion that is created because of the fast and rolling motion of sperm which was monitored by the previously available microscope with less advanced features.
Symmetry Rules Nature
Gadelha the main scientist behind this discovery said that “what nature is telling us is that there is more than one way to achieve symmetry”. “Sperm use asymmetry to create symmetry.” There is another aspect to add upon this whole thing as we have to agree that there are many competing aspects other than what we already consider to be true which is that it is not always that sperm swims to find the egg, it has to find chemical cues, react to various viscosities, activate,” says Gadelha. To understand sperm it is very much important to understand its function in the female tract the place where it needs to show motility. But the problem is that the female reproductive tract is a very complex structure to be explored and scientists need to do more research with that regard. Here the concern is laid on the female reproductive tract because the shape of something is created or designed for completing the job it is meant to perform. This was said by Pitnick another scientist working on this research.
According to scientists approximately 50 million couples globally get affected by the infertility problem and this discovery can be a ray of hope for all such people. According to a statistic, there is about 20-30 percent of cases of infertility globally and even adds upon to the 50 percent of total ratio. This can be much more in reality but this is a matter of fact that male infertility has become a more common issue than it is thought among general public thus this discovery can prove to be a breakthrough development to reveal more new facts related to such discoveries which can further help in making the treatment easier for that couple who are not able to conceive due to some infertility issues.
Even 3D technology that has helped in finding out this breakthrough discovery has been very much important so far and soon this technology will unveil many more concealed secrets that are already available in nature but remain to be unknown. This technology could reach one fine day to the clinical centers in the world as per the thought of Dr. Corkidi who along with Dr. Darszon is known as the pioneer of 3D printing technology.
Source
This study was published in Science Advances, 2020 DOI:10.1126/sciadv.aba5168, by Hermes Adelha et al. This was provided by the University of Bristol.