The process of sperm production
THE male reproductive system begins in the scrotum, the sack behind the penis. This contains two testicles, which make men’s sex cells, sperm; and the male sex hormone, testosterone.
THE male reproductive system begins in the scrotum, the sack behind the penis. This contains two testicles, which make men’s sex cells, sperm; and the male sex hormone, testosterone.
The testicles make sperm best at a temperature cooler than normal body temperature. This is why nature designed a scrotum so that the testes can hang outside the body to keep them cool.
The testicles start making sperm at puberty in response to testosterone, which starts being produced at this time. The testes keep making sperm for the rest of the man’s life.
The testes have two components, the seminiferous tubules, where sperms are produced, and the interstitium, which contain the Leydig cells, which produce testosterone, which causes the male sexual drive.
Sperms are produced inside the tightly coiled seminiferous tubule (70 cm). Mature sperms take about 75 days to develop in a process called spermatogenesis.
Sperm production takes place as though it were on an assembly line - with the more mature sperms being passed towards the centre of the tubule, from where they swim to the efferent ducts of the testis towards the epididymis.
The spermatogenic cells are supported and nourished by large cells called the Sertoli cell, which helps to support sperm maturation. This can be a very “temperamental†assembly line because things often go wrong, causing low sperm counts.
When the sperm leave the testis, they are not yet able to swim on their own. They have to learn in the epididymis - which is like a swimming school for the sperm. They spend between 2 to 15 days here learning how to swim, during which they attain maturity and fertilising potential.
Sperms are then propelled along this tunnel by frequent contractions of its thin muscular wall. Most of the mature sperm are then stored at the end of the epididymis - where they wait to be rushed through the vas deferens and ejaculated at the time of orgasm.
The testicles make sperm best at a temperature cooler than normal body temperature. This is why nature designed a scrotum so that the testes can hang outside the body to keep them cool.
The testicles start making sperm at puberty in response to testosterone, which starts being produced at this time. The testes keep making sperm for the rest of the man’s life.
The testes have two components, the seminiferous tubules, where sperms are produced, and the interstitium, which contain the Leydig cells, which produce testosterone, which causes the male sexual drive.
Sperms are produced inside the tightly coiled seminiferous tubule (70 cm). Mature sperms take about 75 days to develop in a process called spermatogenesis.
Sperm production takes place as though it were on an assembly line - with the more mature sperms being passed towards the centre of the tubule, from where they swim to the efferent ducts of the testis towards the epididymis.
The spermatogenic cells are supported and nourished by large cells called the Sertoli cell, which helps to support sperm maturation. This can be a very “temperamental†assembly line because things often go wrong, causing low sperm counts.
When the sperm leave the testis, they are not yet able to swim on their own. They have to learn in the epididymis - which is like a swimming school for the sperm. They spend between 2 to 15 days here learning how to swim, during which they attain maturity and fertilising potential.
Sperms are then propelled along this tunnel by frequent contractions of its thin muscular wall. Most of the mature sperm are then stored at the end of the epididymis - where they wait to be rushed through the vas deferens and ejaculated at the time of orgasm.