Q.
What
is human sperm made up of?
A.
I'll
assume you are asking about sperm plus the seminal fluid
(a.k.a. semen) which contains the sperm. Each sperm or spermatozoon,
(spermatozoa = more than one of them) is actually made up
of three parts, the head, the midpiece and the tail.
The
head contains chromosomes or genetic material (DNA) and
on the outside of the head enzymes needed for the penetration
and fertilization of an egg. The midpiece contains “stuff”
that provides energy for the locomotion of the tail. The
tail helps the sperm swim.
Let’s
go back to the inside of the head of the sperm. All normal
cells have 46 chromosomes but sperm have half that number
or, 23. If and when the sperm joins ups with the female’s,
egg (ovum) which also has 23 chromosomes, together they
add up to 46 chromosomes. The middle section controls the
sperms activities.
The
sperm or (spermatozoa -- which are the little swimming critters)
make up only about 5% of what a man ejaculates each time
he ejaculates. This represents about 100 to 400 million
of them! Therefore, they are very, very, very tiny, in fact
a single sperm is the smallest cell in the body. The rest
of what a man ejaculates in his “ejaculate”, which
is about a teaspoonful (5 ml), is made up of water, sugar,
protein, vitamin C, zinc, and prostaglandins.
Semen
or seminal fluid is the mixture of sperm and the secretions
of the seminal vesicles, prostate gland, and the bulbourethral
glands.
