NANOTECHNOLOGY
Sperm Robots for the Lousy Swimmer Sperms
In Dresden, researchers are devising microrobots to help sperm swim its way to the egg.
T o those men whose genitalia seem to house slow swimmers, there is now a silver lining to conceive your baby as researchers from the Dresden Institute for Integrative Nanosciences develop the future deliverers of life, the spermbots.
Spermbots being studied are essentially made of microtubes, which are thin sheets of titanium and iron rolled into conical tubes with one end wider than the other. The microtubes are put into a solution in a Petri dish and added bovine( bull) sperm cells, which are similar in size to the human sperm. When a live sperm entered the wider end of the tube, it became trapped down near the narrow end. The narrow end is also closed to prohibit the sperm from swimming out. The mobility of the sperm is generated from the trapped cell pushed against the tube.
With the magnetic property of titanium and iron, the scientists can then control the direction of the sperm, leaving the propulsion to the sperm.
Once the sperm hits its desired target, that is the mighty egg, it can be manipulated magnetically to release the sperm. There is no certainty yet to the way the microtubes will leave the sperm; however, researchers say that it should be possible by altering the temperature to unroll the tubes just before they reach the target.
Each spermbot can travel up to 100 micrometers per second, comparable to a 6-footer human swimming 50 meters in 14 seconds. If that speed won’ t help sperm that doesn’ t swim so well, we don’ t know yet what will. This is being studied among sperm cells since they are easily available, harmless, and efficient at swimming through bodily fluids. Although it is yet to be put to human test, this kind of assisted fertilization is planned for test among animals.
Nonetheless, this is a promising feat for sperms which have motor struggles and to the men who carry them. Do not lose hope just yet, brother.
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