LM of human sperm fertilising an egg

LM of human sperm fertilising an egg

P648/0141 Rights Managed

Request low-res file

530 pixels on longest edge, unwatermarked

Request/Download high-res file

Uncompressed file size: 26.0MB

Downloadable file size: 2.1MB

Price image Pricing

Please login to use the price calculator


Caption: Sperm fertilising egg. Light micrograph of a human egg with sperm at its surface attempting to penetrate and fertilise it. The large size of the rounded egg is seen in relation to the tiny sperm at upper frame. Around the egg is a thick zona pellucida layer. Women usually produce one egg (ovum) for fertilisation, whereas men release some 300 million sperm (spermatozoa) which travel with whiplash movements of their tail through the uterus to reach the egg. Only one sperm succeeds in penetrating the egg's wall and fertilises the egg by fusing with its nucleus. When this occurs, the egg membrane forms a barrier to other sperm. Magnification: x260 at 5x7cm size. x130 at 35mm size.


Keywords: anatomy, egg, egg and sperm, egg surface, fertilisation, fertilization, human, human body, in human fertilisation, light micrograph, ovum, reproduction, sperm, spermatozoa
