“We don't wanna throw this in with the garbage! This is special...”
If it's the sperm contained in semen that squicks someone out, consider that sperm makes up only one percent of semen. Many people eat yogurt containing live bacterial cultures in much higher concentrations without even a second thought. After all, sperm is the most valuable and promising part of semen. While seminal fluids carry the most nutrients of the ejaculate, the sperm is the restorative element (or in the case of reproduction, the creative fluid). And it's a nano-technological nature of every healthy man to be a walking sperm factory.
Sperm density in semen (millions per 1 ml), average value and normal variations:
Fox -- 70 (30-250)
Boar -- 100 (25-300)
Man -- 100 (50-150)
Stallion -- 120 (300-800)
Rabbit -- 400 (100-600)
Ass -- 400 (200-600)
Dolphin -- 400 (20-1,400)
Bull -- 1,000 (300-2,000)
Elephant -- 2,400 (88-4760)
Ram -- 3,000 (2,000-5,000)
Dog -- 3,000 (1,000-9,000)
Cock -- 3,500 (50-6,000)
Bat -- 6,000 (5,000-8,000)
Turkey -- 7,000 (-)
The spermatozoa are produced solely within the testicles, more particularly in the spaghetti-like seminiferous tubules which make up the testis. Within these tubules lie stem cells called spermatogonia -- the parents of all sperm in a man's body. Individual sperm develops from a spermatogonium. If you were to peek at the seminiferous tubules in a cross-section you would see columns of developing sperm: on the outer edge are the "beginners" and the more "advanced" sperm are closer towards the center.
A - Testis; B - Epididymis; C - Seminiferous tubule (cross section)
1 - Ad spermatogonium; 2 - Ap spermatogonium; 3 - B spermatogonium; 4 - pachytene primary spermatocyte; 5 - secondary spermatocyte; 6 - early round spermatid; 7 - mature spermatid; 8 - spermatozoon; 9-10 - Sertoli cell (9 - cytoplasm, 10 - nucleus)
For each developmental stage, sperm carry different names. Spermatogonia maintain themselves and give rise to spermatocytes which develop further -- through the process of cell division called meiosis -- into spermatids. Round spermatids then need to undergo a remarkable and complicated transformation that leads to elongated sperms with a tail. Each spermatid develops its familiar tail and the cell gradually acquires the ability to move by beating its tail. The spermatid eventually develops into a mature spermatozoon, an elaborate, highly specialized cell, also called a germ cell.
Throughout their development, sperm have a kind of physiological babysitter called the Sertoli cell. These cells are in physical and functional contact with the sperm they produce, supply them with nutrients and phagocytose all wastes of their vital activity.
The developing germ cells are protected from toxins' damage by the so-called blood-testis barrier. Not everything in the blood reaches the testes. But there is an exception to this protection. While the germ cells are protected by this border, the cells from which they arise are not. The so-called spermatogonia are outside the blood-testis barrier.
Maturation does not occur in the testes but in the epididymis, another intricately coiled structure right next to the testis, and these coils would be six meters long if unfolded. As the sperm pass through the particular microenvironment of the epididymis, they acquire all of the abilities of an 'adult' sperm. During this phase they are also carefully shielded from harmful substances that the body may contain. It is the responsibility of this organ to ensure that the conditions for sperm maturation are kept optimal. Sperm that develop in the left testicle travel to the left epididymis and remain in the left system until their call to duty, and this holds true for the sperm arising from the right testicle. The epididymis is the male body's sperm storage site. Unlike most animals, the epididymis in men does not store a great deal of sperm. The capacity of this coiled organ explains many animals' capacity to have repetitive ejaculations in quick succession. Men are not equipped with that kind of an epididymis.
New germ cells arising from the spermatogonia arrive at a constant pace. It is like moving up an elevator; once at the penthouse, it is time to step out into the party. This party can be ejaculation. But, as so often happens with parties, sometimes they get rained out or cancelled for other reasons. Up until about the tenth or eleventh day of abstinence the concentration of sperm continues to rise and then the body decides that they need to be replaced by incoming fresher produced goods. Sperm are stored in the epididymides for about two to three weeks after which they perish, are reabsorbed by the body and flushed out of the body along with urine. Less frequent ejaculation does mean that sperm is going stale and the number of dead sperm in the ejaculate rises. After extended sessions of lovemaking that involve several ejaculations, orgasms may run dry without any semen.
The caudal sperm reserve in the epididymis is not emptied by one ejaculation and when aged spermatozoa are cleared from the epididymis by multiple ejaculations within a short period of time after a 2-week period of sexual abstinence, they are still viable. By this method of accumulating spermatozoa in the epididymis, an increase in the number of morphologically normal and motile spermatozoa can be achieved by multiple ejaculations at the end of the abstinence period. The storage capacity of the human epididymis is small and transport of spermatozoa through it rapid.
Chefs note: Thanks to sperm the semen possesses very strong rejuvenative, defensive and restorative potential. Each spermatozoon is a super-potential bio-computer. We need just to build and breed the semen with needed programmed properties. And if each sperm may easily conceive a child, why may it not heal, repair and rebuild cells and all the body of a woman as well of it's own man?
• Sperm's facts
