Like the question says what are the remaining contents of semen. In addition, can sperm survive inside the vagina or anywhere else without the remaining contents of semen. Also how does this compare with the contents in pre ejaculate. If sperm can’t survive without the contents of semen can they survive in the contents of pre ejaculate.
In: Biology
Seminal fluid contains proteins, sugars, vitamins and other nutrients. Sperm are living cells. They require nutrients to survive their voyage. They also require a medium in which to travel. Without a fluid they wouldn’t be able to travel. It also contains enzymes to counteract vaginal fluids.
The vagina is a hostile environment, very acidic. Many sperm die before making it anywhere near the egg. The sperm is ejaculated at such high velocity that many of them die on impact with the vagina. The sperm must then find a path of least resistant through the acidic vaginal fluids. Many go into a dead end, become surrounded and die. They must then travel up one of two fallopian tubes to reach the egg. Typically only one tube actually contains an egg so half will travel up the wrong tube and die.
Once reaching the egg it doesnt take one sperm to get in. Usually the first sperm to the egg is not the winner. The egg has a protective coating. The tip of the sperm contains enzymes meant to erode the eggs protective coating. The enzymes of one sperm is not sufficient to get through. It will deplete its enzymes, tire out and die. One of the sperm after that will complete the erosion and once one sperm makes it into the egg it sets off a chain reaction that basically solidifies the egg coating preventing any other sperm from getting through. The rest die.
Being a sperm is very dangerous. The fact that you even made it is a miracle.
So I know that men ejaculate a ton of sperms because something like 75-80% die within the vagina. The female body actually attacks the sperm cells because it is technically an outside cell that the body isn’t used to. So if there was only one, then it would die off for sure. But you have the first 100-200 million that are like a shield for the ones at the back and the ones in front are kind of “cannon fodder” for the defenses of the vagina. Also, the sperm can get caught in the Fallopian tubes and within the “bristle like” walls. On top of that, the egg isn’t easy to penetrate. Often times it will have lots of sperms around it trying to get through the membranous walls of the egg but simply can’t because, again, the defenses aren’t easy.
Tl;dr – the vagina doesn’t like sperm so it kills off a lot of them. That on top of sperm getting lost, and tough membranous walls of the egg, is why men ejaculate A LOT of sperm.
Sorry couldn’t help with the other part of the question
The rest of it is sugars, various types of acids and enzymes, all of which help the sperm survive (like…. fish food, for the sperm).
> also why do men ejaculate 100-300 million sperm if only one is required to swim to fertilization?
Because that one sperm might not survive.
You could argue that one soldier could win a war, but if you deploy a hundred thousand soldiers you’ve got an even better chance.
> In addition, can sperm survive inside the vagina or anywhere else without the remaining contents of semen
Sperm can live inside a uterus for generally up to 5 days. It can also be frozen for various medical purposes, and in that case it can remain “fresh” for many years.
> Also how does this compare with the contents in pre ejaculate. If sperm can’t survive without the contents of semen can they survive in the contents of pre ejaculate.
Generally sperm is not absent in pre-ejaculate, or at the very least it is in very low counts (higher chance of it being there if it’s shortly after a normal ejaculation).
The rest of it is essentially waste, but it does function as lubricant. Men ejaculate so much sperm in order to increase the likelihood of fertilization as not every swimmer’s a winner lol.
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