How long can C-Fern sperm swim?

C-Fern sperm can swim for over two hours at 25 °C in the Sperm Release Buffer (SRB) as described in the C-Fern Chemotaxis exercise – Chemical Attraction. (See also the C-Fern Manual for the formulation of SRB.) Sperm will swim a much shorter time in plain distilled water, although it is more than sufficient to […]

How big are C-Fern spores?

C-Fern spores are quite large for fern spores, about 120 µm (microns). Surprisingly, human eggs, i.e. secondary oocytes, and C-Fern spores are similar in size and shape. A vial containing 300,000 C-Fern spores (ca. 240 mg) is a graphic demonstration of the number of eggs (primary oocytes) in the ovaries of a 7-year-old girl. Only […]