Talk:Sperm/Archive 1

This is an archive of past discussions about Sperm. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Archive 1

Spermatia

I noticee that it is not correct and wrong infod that the section about non-motile sperm cells had disappeared from the article sometime over the last few months. I'm wondering if that was on purpose or just overlooked vandalism. I've reinserted it. There's the possibility to create a separate page for spermatium as there is one for spermatozoon, but at this point I don't think there is enough content yet to split out that section. - tameeria (talk) 17:31, 8 December 2007 (UTC)also comment if you no where the sperm is produced

Market

'On the global market, Denmark has a well developed system of sperm export. This success mainly comes from the reputation of Danish sperm donors for being of high quality and, in contrast with the law in the other Nordic countries, gives donors the choice to remain anonymous to the receiving couple.[5] More than 50 countries worldwide are importers, including Paraguay, the US, Kenya and Hong Kong.[5]'

If anywhere this should be in the Sperm donation section. suggest deletion Roguexviii (talk) 14:14, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Protection

This page is essential and must be respected, therefore I request for protection, since it is an obvious subject to vandalism Frederikfederspiel (talk) 10:03, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

A source for the article on sperm

"Mammalian sperm cells can live for up to 3 days inside the female reproductive system.[citation needed]"

I can give a footnote for this, but I don't know how exactly. Would someone enlighten me? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Veritas Nos Liberabit (talk • contribs) 19:17, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

Are sperm alive?

Does anyone have a clear answer to this question? Thanks. - Savagedjeff (talk) 03:44, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Yes, sperm are living, autonomous cells. They're just as 'alive' as your red blood cells. --King ♣ Talk 19:03, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

kjo[

Explain the difference between you or singulare tantum which refers to a substance, not the count noun which refers to a spermatozoon) and semen. I want a clear, definitive explanation with sources and references, if possible, because Wikipedia does not explain the difference accurately. 2004-12-29T22:45Z 19:04, August 27, 2005 (UTC) Since no one wants or is able to explain, I'm gonna write a disambiguation page, because the two homonymous words sperm (singulare tantum) and sperm (count noun) don't refer to the same concept, and since many articles which direct here refer to the mass noun instead of the count noun. 2004-12-29T22:45Z 19:14, August 27, 2005 (UTC)

There is no sentence above this one which I understand in its entirety. -LlywelynII (talk) 08:52, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Redirection proposal

It seems to me that this page, Sperm, should redirect to Spermatozoon. This would be more encyclopedic. All of the links to Sperm that I have encountered need to go to Spermatozoon anyway.

Propose and Support. --Commander Keane 11:08, 11 November 2005 (UTC)
Support - clearly dominant use, so this ought not be a disambig. BD2412 T 20:43, 15 November 2005 (UTC)
- Done.--Commander Keane 15:37, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Undone by someone, apparently. IMO, the main article should be called sperm, one part of which should decribe spermatozoa, for the same reason that there should be an article on sugar that includes a section on sugar crystals. --Tysto 04:01, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

I can't see where it has been undone, Sperm still redirects to Spermatozoon. I don't understand the sugar reference, we have an article Semen - is that what you mean?--Commander Keane 04:25, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

I understand the sugar reference and completely agree. The main article should be called sperm. -LlywelynII (talk) 08:52, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

I've added a new page here to account for the fact that not all sperm cells are spermatozoa. The redirect was like redirecting dog to poodle, suggesting that all dogs are poodles when there are in fact other kinds as well. - tameeria 01:40, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

I've also added a sperm (disambiguation) page after finding at least four ambiguous pages. Wiktionary says "sperm" may refer to sperm cell (e.g. spermatozoon) or semen, and there are many pages on Wikipedia using "sperm" in either definition. There's also an album titled Sperm and plenty of page titles that contain the term sperm. Should the content of this page be moved to sperm cell and replaced with the disambiguation page? - tameeria 23:30, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

Edit: There's no ambiguity. The only sperm cells which are not spermatazoa aren't human. Among humans, they are synonyms. They should be merged. -LlywelynII (talk) 08:52, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

what this page could use...

I think this page needs a link to the flagella page. There is little here on mamalian sperm motility mechanism or details of cytoskeletal structure. There is also very little here on chemoattraction of sperm to the oocyte. I am new to wiki and haven't yet figured out how to do edits, but I propose linking this to the page on eukaryotic flagella (at the least). There also seem to be multiple pages relating to sperm that should be merged together..... More discussion on this? - Kardiokid (talk) 21:44, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

This page could use more history and previous conceptions and traditions related to sperm. -LlywelynII (talk) 08:52, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Image

What's حيوان منوي و بويضة أثناء اللقاح? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Edenc1 (talk • contribs) 17:16, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Good question. -LlywelynII (talk) 08:52, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Google translate comes back with "Animal sperm and egg during the vaccine", from arabic. --King ♣ Talk 12:56, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

24 hours

Moved from Talk:Sperm/Comments where it would not have been seen so easily. Astronaut (talk) 16:46, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

How true that sperm cell can survive for about 24 hours in the female body? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.89.8.196 (talk) 15:03, 3 August 2009

Actually, I was taught in highschool that it was 72 hours... --King ♣ Talk 17:54, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

Polish

Request to Admins - please add the polish interwiki link about this topic pl:Sperma. Fortunatelly polish language is more rich :) and we haven't got problems about naming ;) Kisiel1mk 05:33, 23 September 2009 (UTC)

I'm not an admin but I will do :) Smartse (talk) 16:10, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Disambiguation for Sperm/Spermaceti

The spermaceti found in whales was once (and still is often) referred to as sperm -- i.e., eg., in the novel Moby Dick. The sperm article should include a disambiguation link to reflect this fact. // Internet Esquire (talk) 22:45, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Explanation of 'pre-testicular' and 'post-testicular'

I think this article would be improved by an explanation of the above terms, if anyone's up to it. Or perhaps we need a separate article called something like "mammalian sperm" to go into more detail about the full life-cycle. (Also, Wiktionary needs definitions of the above 2 terms.) Thanks! --Tyranny Sue (talk) 00:59, 15 February 2010 (UTC)

Same top image as fertilisation - why?

There are other images that could be used surely. Also is the image of a human spermatazoon? As there is an article for the singular cell, I suggest the following would be better here. [[1]].

   1. It shows the seminal plasma/fluid surrounding the spermatazoa
   2. It is both educational and illustrative.
   3. It gives the reader some understanding of the density/population of spermatozoa within the seminal fluid.
   4. It is clinical, and therefore well suited to an encyclopedia.
   5. Having briefly searched the internet it is the clearest one I have seen.
   6. It is actual sperm. (stating the obvious I know).
   7. It seems to be common use, at least I have seen it on a couple of websites.

If there are no reasons against changing it, could someone be bold. 62.254.133.139 (talk) 18:34, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

There's no reason not to use the same image in two articles. Images on wikipedia must be licenced in a way that allows them to be reused by anyone, the image that you've linked to is likely under copyright and therefore cannot be used as it would be a copyright violation. If you can find an image licenced under a creative commons licence then we can replace it, but unfortunately if not then we can't. Smartse (talk) 19:16, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

Hold on, is it under copyright? You said likely, so you are not sure. I think we should not jump to a conclusion here, I have seen it used on a couple of different sites. If it is known to be copyright, fair enough. The image at the top, is specifically illustrating fertilisation, yes it shows a single spermatozoon. But it not the best illustration for this page. DMSBel (talk) 15:29, 23 September 2010 (UTC)

Unless it says that it isn't under copyright, then we have to assume that it is. This is explained in the image use policy. Many of our images are a bit crap for illustrating the topic, as you've pointed out. You could try looking for papers about sperm published in the Public Library of Science to see if there are any pictures that we could use instead, as these are licenced in a way that we can use. Smartse (talk) 15:40, 23 September 2010 (UTC)

Edit request from Fmbuonaguro, 28 September 2010

{{edit semi-protected}} The term sperm refers to the seminal fluid not to the cells

Please change the first sentence The term sperm is derived from the Greek word (σπέρμα) sperma (meaning "seed") and refers to the male reproductive cells - to

The term sperm is derived from the Greek word (σπέρμα) sperma (meaning "seed") and refers to the male reproductive seminal fluid

Within the text the reproductive cells (including mature spermatozoa) are correctly referred as sperm cells.

Fmbuonaguro (talk) 17:59, 28 September 2010 (UTC)

Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Celestra (talk) 18:21, 28 September 2010 (UTC)

BSE

Mad cow disease is Bovine spongiform encephalopathy. not CJD. this should be made clear. although they are both prion diseases. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.11.219.50 (talk) 17:39, 12 November 2010 (UTC) sperm is a sexual reproduction organ of human body which helps —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.74.31.85 (talk) 18:57, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

Other languages

I'm not going to register, but here is another language to add: de:Spermien —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.192.222.152 (talk) 11:26, 15 May 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from 96.54.207.214, 16 May 2011

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"However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the US has banned import of any sperm, motivated by a risk of mad cow disease, although such a risk is insignificant, since artificial insemination is very different from the route of transmission of mad cow disease.^[1] The prevalence of mad cow disease is one in a million, probably less for donors. If prevalence was the case, the infectious proteins would then have to cross the blood-testis barrier to make transmission possible.^[1] Transmission of the disease by an insemination is approximately equal to the risk of getting killed by lightning.^[2]"

I believe this section is wrong. The talk about mad cow disease and the risk is the same as getting hit by lightning is irrelevant and pointless to the article. please change it. best of british luck —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.54.207.214 (talk)

Not done: It is sourced and highlights the insignificance of insemination as a method of transmission. — Bility (talk) 19:11, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

Sperm Storage and Disposal by Body

Would love for some specifics/ranges on how long sperm are kept in testes, and when and how they are disposed of. I remember an actually interesting discussion in health class of their journey (including duration) through the various tubes and such in the body, how they were stored, and the number of days (or months or weeks) until they were disposed of. Talk 17:43, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

Origin of sperm

"Sperm originates solely from the testicles, and this is where sperm develop." - http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/menshealth/facts/semenandsperm.htm. The cited page is referring to human sperm. I think sperm can originate from the antheridium in certain species. Enkidu6 (talk) 11:37, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

Link fix

Please change the "See also"-link in the history section to Homunculus#Homunculi in preformationism. Thank you. --94.220.142.154 (talk) 17:49, 7 September 2011 (UTC)

Reorganizaion of sections

I noticed that scattered throughout the article were sentences and sections that had information unique to human sperm. So I gathered all of this information into a new top level section, and made second level subsections. Now readers wanting to know about human sperm can easily find what information there is in this article. Nick Beeson (talk) 15:16, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

Sperm gender?

I recently heard a young woman say "her sperm". Meaning the individual sperm that created her. It appears this is somewhat correct but not entirely. This brought to mind many interesting questions. Are sperm in fact female if they produce a female offspring or are they all males? If they are all males, how can they be? Can an asexual creature be female or male? Do the chromosomes within the sperm determine gender or is there some other carrier present? Clarity about these issues might be expressed in the article if for no other reason then for added interest. No response is needed, I just thought these were interesting questions. --User:Warrior777 (talk) 13:19, 7 November 2011 (UTC)

Edit request on 31 December 2011

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Hi! The "sperm" page says this: "Other terms for sperm include "prostatic fluid" and "seminal fluid"" - but I think that that is incorrect. I'm fairly sure that "prostatic fluid" and "seminal fluid" mean the fluid from the prostate and seminal vesicles, respectively. Semen, prostatic fluid, and seminal fluid are all different components of semen.

76.14.66.250 (talk) 17:55, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

Done — Bility (talk) 20:22, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

The statement that mammillian sperm can survive for more than 5 days post-coitus is misleading- Human sperm can survive for this time period, however the sperm of the mouse for example, is viable for less than a day. I do not have a reference for this, as I don't really know how to work wikipedia, but I can tell you this is correct. Indeed, the reference cited only covers the human sperm viability81.107.28.4 (talk) 16:22, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing that out. I've corrected the text to make it say it clear that it is talking about human sperm. SmartSE (talk) 16:36, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 24 August 2015

This edit request to Sperm has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Great description of the Journey of Sperm here: https://www.ovulationcalendar.com/the-menstrual-cycle/conception/the-journey-of-sperm/ which is written by Professor Allan Pacey of the University of Sheffield (see - https://www.shef.ac.uk/humanmetabolism/people/pacey)

Suggest you add it to external resources.

Mcgowanshaun (talk) 05:26, 24 August 2015 (UTC) Mcgowanshaun (talk) 05:26, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

Not done: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the {{edit semi-protected}} template. Mdann52 (talk) 13:12, 31 August 2015 (UTC)

Danish sperm market

I really thought I'd never edit any Wikipedia articles on this subject, but this is just ridiculous.

I provide here a line-for-line critique, so future generations will know why it was changed.

On the global market, Denmark has a well-developed system of human sperm export. This success mainly comes from the reputation of Danish sperm donors for being of high quality[5] and, in contrast with the law in the other Nordic countries, gives donors the choice of being either anonymous or non-anonymous to the receiving couple.[5]

High quality sperm donors? Sounds rather POV to me... but oh, well, it's hardly the most surprising statement in this section..

Furthermore, Nordic sperm donors tend to be tall and highly educated[6] and have altruistic motives for their donations,[6]

So we're not only complimenting all Danes as being tall and well-educated (the second part, at least, would be evidence of a true masterpiece society!), but we're also assigning a motive to every Danish sperm donor as "altruism?" Really??

...partly due to the relatively low monetary compensation in Nordic countries. More than 50 countries worldwide are importers of Danish sperm, including Paraguay, Canada, Kenya, and Hong Kong.[5] However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the US has banned import of any sperm, motivated by a risk of mad cow disease, although such a risk is insignificant, since artificial insemination is very different from the route of transmission of mad cow disease.[7] The prevalence of mad cow disease is one in a million, probably less for donors. If prevalence was the case, the infectious proteins would then have to cross the blood-testis barrier to make transmission possible.[7]

Is a primer discussion on the transmission of mad cow disease really necessary here? What was this, written by a Danish sperm salesman? Jsharpminor (talk) 04:48, 25 September 2012 (UTC)

Support - This entire section, while interesting, seemed to be a tangent to the core topic of the article, especially the last paragraph highlighted here. Ouizardus (talk) 17:04, 12 February 2017 (UTC)

The sperm cells look like tadpoles. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Articulatedapplfam (talk • contribs) 16:29, 22 May 2013 (UTC)

Sperm and weight.

As we have been looking at semen in the article, or "sperm". Considering it has,
150 mg. protien 11 mg. carbohydrates 6 mg. fat. 3 mg. cholesterol 7% US RDA potassium 3% US RDA copper 3% US RDA zinc 300 million spermatoza

There is no question why it doesn't help reduce weight. It accumulates to eating about 6 oranges. Not only is it full of protein but vitamin C as well. It has been proven by medical doctors, as some of you may think its a bitter yet, disgusting topic. It is aware to me that this is not a fact many people know. Semen also known as ejaculate is the fluid containing sperm that is ejaculated during sexual excitement. It is composed of seminal fluid from the seminal vesicles, fluid from the prostate, fluid from the Cowper's gland, and sperm. Sperm move from the testicles to the seminal vesicles through tubes called the vas deferens. In the seminal vesicles, they mix with other fluids to form semen.

A tablespoon of semen contains approximately six caloriesm, but as it helps reduce more. Semen does contain protein, but it also contains all kinds of chemicals and minerals, including water, sugar, calcium, chlorine, magnesium, nitrogen, vitamin B12, and zinc, which are are great for the human body— Preceding unsigned comment added by Qualityhealth (talk • contribs) 04:25, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 5 April 2017

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i would like to add a sentence to this site (sperm) please accept Hunter67929 (talk) 08:47, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format. Gulumeemee (talk) 09:07, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Is it true that the sperm are repelled from the egg cell?

@Rashkeqamar: In this paragraph, you wrote that "The selected sperm actually tries to swim away from the egg," but I don't see this information in the citations that you provided. Can you provide some more reliable sources to verify this? Jarble (talk) 21:31, 11 December 2017 (UTC)

@Jarble: Hi , Below are the links which states conclusively that As the sperm arrive at the egg, it is the egg that chooses the sperm and pulls it towards her. Sperm itself is not strong penetrate the egg, without any action/ approval from egg. The selected sperm actually tries to swim away from the egg but is tethered to the egg by female hormones. The membrane around the egg literally opens up and swallows the sperm.

http://upliftconnect.com/egg-chooses-sperm/
https://www.quantamagazine.org/choosy-eggs-may-pick-sperm-for-their-genes-defying-mendels-law-20171115/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5092821/Fussy-eggs-choose-sperms-best-genes.html
--Rashkeqamar (talk) 14:47, 13 December 2017 (UTC)

We need appropriate sources (see WP:MEDRS), none of which are included above (and Daily Mail is not a reliable source for much of anything). Kingofaces43 (talk) 19:42, 13 December 2017 (UTC)

motility

The article says the tail flails to move the sperm. Recent research talks about beating to one side combined with spiraling. 67.209.133.130 (talk) 03:29, 1 August 2020 (UTC)

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

The above anonymous user is correct. I believe that this is in reference to this research.

These are my suggestions for an edit.

Before:

tail: also called the flagellum, is the longest part and capable of wave-like motion that propels sperm for swimming and aids in the penetration of the egg. Sperm motility depends on the 4 parts of the tail: connecting piece, midpiece, principal piece, and the end piece.

After:

tail: also called the flagellum, is the longest part that propels sperm for swimming and aids in the penetration of the egg. Sperm motility depends on the 4 parts of the tail: connecting piece, midpiece, principal piece, and the end piece.

Before:

The tail, or "flagellum", executes the lashing movements that propel the spermatocyte.

After:

The tail, or "flagellum", is historically believed to have executed lashing movements to propel the spermatocyte based on 2D microscopy. However, research into human sperm based on 3D microscopy now suggests that a spermatocyte's tail engages in a corkscrew motion instead.