The Sperm reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Sperm

Table of contents

1 General Information 2 Functions of Sperm 2.1 Diseases caused by sperm 2.2 Specifications of sperm 3 History

General Information

• A sperm cell (or spermatozoön) is the haploid cell that is the male gamete.
• A sperm cell can fertilize an egg cell to form a zygote, which can grow into a new organism.
• Like many other organisms, human offspring is created by this process.
• Sperm is carried in the fluid called semen.

Functions of Sperm

Sperm cells contain half of the genetic chromosomes needed to create life, In general the gender of the offspring is determined by the sperm with the chromosomal pairs "XX" and "XY".

Diseases caused by sperm

Chromosomal diseases generally are contracted through the sperm, such as Turner's syndrome, Down syndrome, and Patau syndrome.

Specifications of sperm

In humans, sperm cells consists of head 0.005 by 0.003 mm and tail 0.05 mm long. The tail flagellates, which propels the sperm cell. The cell is characterized by a minimum of cytoplasm.

History

Sperm cells were first observed by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek in 1679.

See Also:(1) Acrosome (2) Cell membrane (3) Nucleus (4) Mitochondria (5) Tail (flagella)

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