Zinc sparks induce physiochemical changes in the egg zona pellucida that prevent polyspermy.
Researchers shed light on new explanation for how mammalian zygotes safeguard their survival
Based on the latest survey, perhaps the incoming Trump Administration can make these cities pest-free again.
Scientists at Northwestern University announed in April that they had recorded flashes of light from human eggs that may be an indicator of egg quality.
At the moment of conception, eggs of several mammals send out a pulse of metallic ions as they undergo cellular change.
There’s a grain of truth to descriptions of ‘fireworks’ in the bedroom – after scientists captured the ‘flash’ of human life beginning for the first time.
Sparks really do fly when the magic happens. At the exact moment a sperm penetrates an egg, the latter releases billions of zinc atoms from its surface which spark off.
When an egg is fertilized, the rapid release of zinc creates a spark
So often in romantic comedies, we see two straight people fall in love and consummate their relationship with heterosexual intercourse. What we rarely see represented, though, are the sparks that fly after sex: literally! In the woman's fallopian tube, between her egg and the dude's sperm.
Human life begins in bright flash of light as a sperm meets an egg, scientists have shown for the first time, after capturing the astonishing ‘fireworks’ on film.
This is the first time zinc sparks have been captured in a human egg
This is the first time the phenomenon has been observed by scientists.
"We discovered the zinc spark just five years ago in the mouse, and to see the zinc radiate out in a burst from each human egg was breathtaking," said researcher Teresa Woodruff.
People who say they have experienced "fireworks" in the bedroom may not be completely exaggerating. Scientists have tracked the moment of conception and have captured "radiant zinc fireworks" when sperm meets egg.
For the first time, researchers have witnessed the exact moment conception occurs— and have recorded the ensuing explosion of sparks that form when sperm meets an egg. The Telegraph reported that scientists had previously captured the moment in animals, but this is the first time it’s been recorded in humans.
Scientific Reports released a publication in 2016 by Francesca Duncan, PhD, Emily L. Que, PhD, Nan Zhang, PhD, Eve C. Feinberg, MD, Thomas V. O’Halloran, PhD, and Teresa K. Woodruff, PhD, entitled “The zinc spark is an inorganic signature of human egg activation.” The article describes the prominent “zinc spark,” that occurs the moment the sperm…
The fertilization-induced zinc spark is a novel biomarker of mouse embryo quality and early development.