Hello, my name is Samuel the sperm. I will be taking you on a journey today, from how I became a sperm all the way until I make my grand exit. We will start with the process of meiosis, which is how I got to become a spermatozoon. Like any good journey, we have to have a setting. In this instance, we are in the testes, the male reproductive organ that produces sperm. The process of becoming a spermatozoon all starts with a process called interphase. During this time, chromosomal DNA is being replicated. After interphase, each cell has 46 chromosomes, and is therefore called a diploid cell. Each of those chromosomes have two identical strands of DNA. Those two strands of DNA are called “sister chromatids”, and are joined by a centromere. We
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Now that I’m all formed, I need respite before I begin the rest of my journey. I decide to head to the top of the testis to the duct of the epididymis where I will rest. Several days pass, and I awaken. It seems the penis has become stimulated and is now erect. I feel mature and ready to go, so I head from the epididymis on to the vas deferens. Keep in mind that there are two testicles, so sperm in the other testicle will have a similar journey to the one I am about to embark on. But, as this is my story, we are going to focus on where I go from the testis I am in. The vas deferens, blood vessels, and nerves that supply the testis all together form the spermatic cord. This cord starts at the internal inguinal ring in the abdominal wall, lateral to the inferior epigastric vessels. It travels through the inguinal canal, exits at the external inguinal ring, and travels to the testis. Now that I am in the vas deferens, I enter the abdomen through the inguinal canal and end up behind the bladder. This is where the vas deferens joins up with the seminal vesicle at a duct called the ejaculatory duct. At this point, I sure am getting tired moving through that muscular vas deferens. I get lucky, and the seminal vesicle gland adds fluid to that ejaculatory duct so that now I am all mixed with seminal fluid. Next, I am on my way to the prostate gland. Here, those glands throw more fluid at me, and the next thing I know, I’m in the urethra. The fluid from the seminal vesicle and the prostate gland feeds me with nutrients, allows me extra motility to keep swimming, and gives me several other substances that will help with my survival. I like this fluid, so I come up with a name for all of us together: semen. Now that we are in the urethra, we are heading past the prostate. We pass the bulbourethral glands, which lie just under the prostate. Their job is to secrete fluid that will help neutralize any acidity I might encounter in the urethra, and for lubrication to make my
Now that I’m all formed, I need respite before I begin the rest of my journey. I decide to head to the top of the testis to the duct of the epididymis where I will rest. Several days pass, and I awaken. It seems the penis has become stimulated and is now erect. I feel mature and ready to go, so I head from the epididymis on to the vas deferens. Keep in mind that there are two testicles, so sperm in the other testicle will have a similar journey to the one I am about to embark on. But, as this is my story, we are going to focus on where I go from the testis I am in. The vas deferens, blood vessels, and nerves that supply the testis all together form the spermatic cord. This cord starts at the internal inguinal ring in the abdominal wall, lateral to the inferior epigastric vessels. It travels through the inguinal canal, exits at the external inguinal ring, and travels to the testis. Now that I am in the vas deferens, I enter the abdomen through the inguinal canal and end up behind the bladder. This is where the vas deferens joins up with the seminal vesicle at a duct called the ejaculatory duct. At this point, I sure am getting tired moving through that muscular vas deferens. I get lucky, and the seminal vesicle gland adds fluid to that ejaculatory duct so that now I am all mixed with seminal fluid. Next, I am on my way to the prostate gland. Here, those glands throw more fluid at me, and the next thing I know, I’m in the urethra. The fluid from the seminal vesicle and the prostate gland feeds me with nutrients, allows me extra motility to keep swimming, and gives me several other substances that will help with my survival. I like this fluid, so I come up with a name for all of us together: semen. Now that we are in the urethra, we are heading past the prostate. We pass the bulbourethral glands, which lie just under the prostate. Their job is to secrete fluid that will help neutralize any acidity I might encounter in the urethra, and for lubrication to make my