• Question: What is Sperm made of?

    Asked by dino88 to Daniel, Jon, Louise, Sharon, Zoe on 22 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Sharon Sneddon

      Sharon Sneddon answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Well, this depends what exactly you are talking about, sperm or semen as they are quite different.

      Sperm are actually cells, their real name are spermatozoa and these are the little things that look like tadpoles under the microscope. The head of the “tadpole” is the important part as this has all the DNA that is required to make a new life, all coiled up. It’s this cell and it’s DNA that when fused with an egg cell from a female, makes a baby. The tail part of the sperm is just that, a tail, it beats and is what is used to make the sperm “swim” up the fallopian tubes of a woman to reach the egg. In the middle of the head and the tail, sperm have lots of mitochondria to give them lots of energy for the big swim!

      Semen, is the fluid that sperm are ejaculated in. its real name is seminal fluid. In humans, as well as sperm, seminal fluid contains several components including enzymes, acids and sugars (mainly fructose). Seminal fluid is needed for survival of spermatozoa as it protects the sperm from the acidic environment of the womans reporductive tract.

    • Photo: Jon Copley

      Jon Copley answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Proteins, nucleic acids, and phosopholipids.

      The head of the sperm contains a protein called actin, which binds to a protein on the surface of the egg to start from whole fertilisation ball rolling. The tail of the sperm also contains lots of protein that forms a structure called a flagellum to propel the sperm along.

      The head also contains the male genetic material, in the form of loose DNA – so there’s the nucleic acid. And the whole thing is wrapped up with a phosopholipid memrbane, just like other cells. Plus there are mitochondria in the sperm to provide the power for swimming – and they’re made of lots of folded phospholipid membrane too.

    • Photo: Louise Dash

      Louise Dash answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      I’m not sure exactly what they’re made of, but they contain the 23 chromosomes from the father that will combine with the 23 chromosomes from the mother in the egg to make the embryo.

      Hopefully Sharon’s got a good answer to this one! 😀

    • Photo: Zoe Duck

      Zoe Duck answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Sperm is a type of cell so is made of the usual cell components- a nucleus containing DNA and protien, A cytoplasm made up of proteins and water, and a cell membrane made up of fats and proteins.

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