Math formula determines how the male sperm swimming

The experiment is countless, but it is not easy to determine how a single sperm swims.

The new study shows that smooth forward and backward movements allow swimmer sperm to be explained by a mathematical formula. We can call it the first mathematical formula that we touch and also forget the word "before being born".

Scientists analyzed the rhythm of each part of the sperm and reconstructed its waveform in a mathematical way. By understanding how each sperm cell swims in the semen, researchers say they can help figure out how a large group of sperms work and interact with each other and with other environments. The results of this study can be used in the treatment of male infertility.

Picture 1 of Math formula determines how the male sperm swimming
The smooth forward and backward movement allows swimmer sperm to be explained by a mathematical formula.

And they were able to study these micro motions thanks to the superior power of microscopic technology, although the technology could not help us analyze the behavior of a large sperm group - one This is because there are too many tiny sperm in one group.

"There are about 55 million spermatozoa found in a laboratory sample, so it is understandable when we encounter great difficulties in reconstructing their model of activity at the same time," Hermes Gadelha mathematician explained from York University, UK.

"We want to create a mathematical formula that can simplify this problem and allow us to predict the number of sperm in a group. This will help us better understand the current Why do sperms succeed in approaching eggs but others do not? "

To capture the sperm swimming motion , the team monitored sperm activity in the laboratory environment, using a tracking microscope with the ability to capture 300 frames per second. The information is fed into the computer, processing the tail of the sperm, creating a waveform that expresses those special movements.

The above waveform is reconstructed by a mathematical formula (based on the measured regular spans), which will help us understand how sperm motions affect the semen layer surrounding it.

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Swimming movement of sperm.

According to the researchers, sperm swims forward with a reverse jerky motion: they simultaneously retract their heads and bend themselves to the sides.

"You will assume that a sperm movement will have a very random effect on the amount of semen surrounding them, making it difficult for other competing sperms to swim up, but in fact, you can see a certain patterns in the sperm layer around the sperm, " Professor Gadelha continued.

Specifically, this whip-like motion of the sperm is in contrast to the friction that sperm creates when they swim through the fluid.

"This is to say that in order for sperm to move, they" drive "around in a certain way, not much different from how the magnetic field is created around the magnet."

"Although the epidemic makes sperm move forward, it still mixes with the rhythmic movements of the sperm to ensure that only" selected "sperm are able to The ability to push yourself forward ".

Picture 3 of Math formula determines how the male sperm swimming
The smooth movement of the sperm to ensure that only "selected" sperms are able to push themselves forward.

Now that these movements have been successfully expressed with a mathematical formula, the research team says they will easily calculate how semen flow affects sperm groups. Large, contributing to helping scientists find out why many men who do not own middle semen swim strongly enough to fertilize eggs.

That is the next step of this research. They will apply the model obtained to predict the movement of large sperm groups. The results of further studies will give us a clearer, or even better, view than a way to treat male infertility - a way to make their sperm healthier, find Road easier.

"It is true that we use the magic word to show that sperm finds its way to the egg," Professor Gadelha said. "Human bodies are a sophisticated system that ensures that certain cells will find each other properly."

The results were published and accepted in Physical Review Letters.