Scientists Have Finally Found an Elusive Molecule That Helps Sperm Find The EggWe are so incredibly lucky to have been conceived. PETER DOCKRILL 6 AUG 2018 After decades of looking, researchers have identified a molecule that plays an important role in guiding sperm to find eggs. The discovery, observed in the cellular biology of sea urchins, isn't just of importance for marine invertebrates – as the findings may reveal new secrets about human fertility that could help us to treat male infertility. "The union of ovum and spermatozoon is not a process in which the sperm penetrates by virtue of its mechanical properties, but one in which a peculiarly intimate and specific biochemical reaction plays the chief role," zoologist F.R. Lillie from the University of Chicago's Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) wrote over 100 years ago. Now, more than a century later, cellular biologist U. Benjamin Kaupp from the Centre of Advanced European Studies in Germany – who for almost t...
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