Sperm

[Tecumseh]

I'm no biologist, and I was just wondering about this . Are sperm considered to be living organisms? Forgive my ignorance on this one...

[Justinian]

Considering they swim about, I would say they're alive in a sense of the word ... but I'm no lunatic who thinks a wasted sperm is a murdered baby...

[Shaun]

Considering they swim about, I would say they're alive in a sense of the word ... but I'm no lunatic who thinks a wasted sperm is a murdered baby...

I am going to have to agree with Justinian on this one. If they can swim about, then they are living.

[Wild Bill Kelso]

A sperm cell is not a living organism, no more than a skin cell on your arm is. (it is even less so than the skin cell as it only carries half of your genetic material)

[Justinian]

Doesn't it self-propel, meaning it's alive?

[Siblesz]

A sperm cell is not a living organism, no more than a skin cell on your arm is. (it is even less so than the skin cell as it only carries half of your genetic material)

Where do you draw the line between living and not, though?

[fallingstar]

Where do you draw the line between living and not, though?

The science book I read says that sperm that manage to get into the egg will fertilise it, all the other sperm will die, which means yes it can be called organisms.

[Wild Bill Kelso]

Doesn't it self-propel, meaning it's alive?

Plants do not self-propel, so does that mean they are not alive? Sperm is a living cell yes, but not an organism.

http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=organism

organism, being (a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently)

sperm cannot function independently, hence they are not an organism.

[Spiff]

Yeah WBK is right on this one, they are alive like any other part of your body but they do not constitute a seperate entity as they cannot survive on their own (for any length of time anyway). growth and reproduction are also things which it doesnt do, so cant really be classed as a seperate organism.

Ill admit though sperm do seem to be something of a 'sort of, but not really'

[Stalins Ghost]

To quote good ol' Meaning of Life "Every Sperm is Sacred"



Well, actually, I think the opposite really. I just think of it as just another cell, for another job. It's not a major thing if they are "wasted".

[Halie Satanus]

To quote good ol' Meaning of Life "Every Sperm is Sacred"

Well, actually, I think the opposite really. I just think of it as just another cell, for another job. It's not a major thing if they are "wasted".

If sperm aren't sacred, why do we cry "Oh God" when we cum!

:original:

[Favre]

If sperm aren't sacred, why do we cry "Oh God" when we cum!

:original:

You seem to have a tricky one there :hmmm:

[Kscott]

If sperm aren't sacred, why do we cry "Oh God" when we cum!

:original:

I do

[Silver Guard]

Yes, a sperm is alive, as is any other cell in your body. However, it is also a separate entity, as although it is given a push to begin with, it swims on its own, without any 'promting' (sp) from the body itself. It can't survive alone for any length of time? It can survive for a few days, as long as quite a few invertebrates such as mayflies or some other flies. Where do YOU draw the line? Are those bugs not living?

[Bruticus the Steadfast]

Yeah WBK is right on this one, they are alive like any other part of your body but they do not constitute a seperate entity as they cannot survive on their own (for any length of time anyway). growth and reproduction are also things which it doesnt do, so cant really be classed as a seperate organism.

Ill admit though sperm do seem to be something of a 'sort of, but not really'

Agreed. Not.......but in a way, Kinda ?

[Niles Crane]

it swims on its own, without any 'promting' (sp) from the body itself.

That is its designated goal, it can't do anything else. Sperm do not have the ability to think.

But what does a teenager know?

[Spiff]

Yes, a sperm is alive, as is any other cell in your body. However, it is also a separate entity, as although it is given a push to begin with, it swims on its own, without any 'promting' (sp) from the body itself. It can't survive alone for any length of time? It can survive for a few days, as long as quite a few invertebrates such as mayflies or some other flies. Where do YOU draw the line? Are those bugs not living?

They cannot reproduce so they cannot evolve independently, they dont form their own population as they are created not among themselves but from a part of the body. They cant even grow or repair themselevs by ingesting food. They are comparable i suppose to a wind up toy car in some ways. Flies and such can grow, evolve, reporduce, sperm cant.

[einherjer]

to be honest I think the problem is more on the definition of 'alive'... The act of being alive is very tough to define. In my opinion, there are more than one forms of 'life'. By that I mean that any cell is considered to be alive (part of the biosphere, or what we biologists study anyways)
On the other hand, can we really compare an amoeba or yeast to a human or even a rat? See where I'm getting at?

It is generally accepted that life is :
-the control of intrinsect and extrinsect (not sure about those words in english though) properties, ie: a genome and intrinsect regulation of that genome ( and added to that homeostasia, whether in a cell or in a multicellular organism)
-compartimentation
-replication (this is where I read the strange notion that sperm does not 'reproduce!! Off course it does, that is why we have testes and can cum more than once or twice in our life!! It's just that you'll find that very differenciated cells do not engage in mitosis, as opposed to stem cells. It has been said that spermocytes cannot feed independantly of some surrounding cells, which is true, but is also true of many living organisms including most of mulicellular organism's cells)
-being able to die. In this case, spermatozoids can die; then they wont be very useful to anyone...

Some scientist add some to that, but that's pretty much it. In that sence and following those criteria, sperm is 'alive'
Now off course it doesn't have any more conscience, and isn't anymore aware of it's own existence that the cells of your skin that you shed all the time, so don't feel bad 'genociding' your spermatozoids. In fact they die anyways after some time, so might as well make 'em useful!!!

[Spiff]

lol but sperm dont really reproduce - take a million sperm cells and leave them sitting somewhere, give them everything they 'need' to survive, their population wont ever grow, it wont evolve, it will just die. I wouldnt consider sperm any more able to reproduce than red blood cells, or even any more of an independent life form than red blood cells are.

[Wild Bill Kelso]

motility does not a species make