From ROGER HICKS
In recent editions, there have been articles on human fertilisation
such as David Bradley’s (New Scientist, Science, 7 August) and Stephen Young’s
(‘The subtle side of sex’, 14 August). On an apparently unrelated topic,
Felix Arscott’s letter (7 August) was about the Coriolis effect and whilst
he supported the theory, he doubted the practical demonstration of the effect
in the draining of sinks. His scepticism was supported by a Comment on the
14 August and by further letters on 11 September.
Could there be some connection between these separate items? Apparently,
just after fertilisation the many unsuccessful but partly embedded spermatozoa,
move their tails in unison, thus spinning the newly fertilised ovum. This
was graphically shown in a television documentary (Horizon, 1982), and as
I remember, the movement was clearly anticlockwise. The accompanying commentary
noted that the reason was unknown. As it was a BBC programme, I assume that
the sequence was filmed in the northern hemisphere but have wondered,
if the direction of rotation would have been clockwise, had it been filmed
in the southern hemisphere.
Whilst the Coriolis suggestion is only a light-hearted one it does seem
to be an interesting feature. Perhaps the synchronicity of spermatozoan
movement is due to the whole arrangement acting as a single cellular entity,
or syncytium.
Roger Hicks Bexleyheath, Kent
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