The American newspaper “New York Post” said that a new study concluded that a woman’s eggs are especially selective when choosing the most ideal sperm for fertilization.
Researchers from Sweden examined the remains of samples from 16 pairs who were getting reproductive therapy, and discovered that eggs released a chemical that attracted only certain types of sperm, regardless of whether they came from the partner the woman preferred.
John Fitzpatrick, an associate professor in the department of zoology at Stockholm University in Sweden, said the author of the study, published in the magazine Proceedings of the Royal Society, said that the selectivity made by the eggs could be a way to sort the best genes.
“We were expecting to see some kind of partner effect, but in half of the cases the eggs attracted more sperm from a random man,” he told CNN.
According to the researcher, “the most likely explanation for this is that these chemical signals allow females to choose the most genetically compatible male.”
The researchers found that an egg releases chemicals during ovulation known as chemoattractants, which attract sperm to track the egg.
They found that only less than 18 percent of sperms are able to track an egg, and when it reaches the signal it swims strongly toward it, increasing the chances of fertilization.
Fitzpatrick and his colleagues believe that this can eliminate unwanted animals and have fewer genetic variables that can make a child less immune to diseases, and in turn attract animals that contain more diverse genes, giving the child better immunity.
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