Chapter 22, Problem 6IA

Summary Introduction

To determine:

Some men are unable to become father because their spermatids do not mature into sperms. However, injecting their sperms in their partner’s secondary oocytes sometimes results in conception. Men have fathered healthy baby this way. This procedure works with spermatids but not with the primary spermatocytes.

Introduction:

Spermatogenesis is the process of the formation of mature sperms. Sperms formed are haploid in nature. The process of spermatogenesis involves a series of events such as, the spermatogonia undergo mitotic divisions to form the primary spermatocyte, and then the primary spermatocyte undergoes the first meiotic division to form the secondary spermatocyte. Further, the secondary spermatocyte undergoes the second meiotic division to form the spermatids. Spermatids are differentiated into spermatozoa or mature sperms by the process of spermiogenesis.