Topic description and stories

Sperm cells

Opinion: The biggest sperm come in the smallest packages – and other odd facts about male sex cells

19 Nov 2015

Jacob Dunn (Division of Biological Anthropology) discusses why sperm are the most diverse cells found among animals.

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Section of normal testes of a young man

Study finds increased DNA mutations in children of teenage fathers

18 Feb 2015

New research reveals that the sperm cells of adolescent boys have more than six times the rate of DNA mutations as the equivalent egg cells in...

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Baboon fight

Females protect offspring from infanticide by forcing males to compete through sperm instead of violence

13 Nov 2014

Latest research shows the females of some mammal species will have many mates to ensure unclear paternity, so that males can’t resort to killing...

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Tiny sperm, big stories

10 Sep 2014

Sperm will take centre stage at a conference in Cambridge later this week as researchers from a wide range of disciplines gather to consider the...

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Stylised image of swimming sperm cells

Sperm against the stream

27 May 2014

Research may explain how sperm travel long distances, through difficult terrain, to reach an egg.

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Illustration of sperm

Male infertility is ‘culturally invisible’, finds research

01 May 2014

Research for a new book reveals a culturally sanctioned suppression of dialogue around male infertility – despite it being equally as common as...

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How sperm swim near surfaces

How sperm swim near surfaces

08 Jan 2013

Using high-speed microscopic imaging, Professor Raymond Goldstein's group in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics has...

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Algal cell swimming towards a wall

Microswimmers hit the wall

07 Jan 2013

New research reveals what happens when swimming cells such as spermatozoa and algae hit a solid wall, and has implications for applications in...

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