BioMed Central

Sperm size isn't everything

Published in Biotech Business Week, December 8th, 2008

Contrary to common scientific belief, the length of a sperm's tail does not always determine how fast it can swim. Research published in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology has shown that in the counter-intuitive microscopic world in which sperm operate, streamlining and longer tails don't always provide a speed advantage.

Stuart Humphries, from the University of Sheffield, and collaborators from the University of Western Australia have critically evaluated the evidence linking sperm shape to swimming speed. He said, "It seems clear that some assumptions regarding the physics of sperm locomotion have hampered our progress in understanding the processes...

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Source: Biotech Business Week (2008-12-08)

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