RUTGERS-CAMDEN STORY IDEAS:
Vatican-invited Biologist Debunks the Speedy Sperm Myth
Science says the fastest sperm out of millions outpaces the others to fertilize an egg-in-waiting, right? More like science fiction, says Developmental Biology author Scott Gilbert, who will discuss this myth and others during his free, public talk “Misconceptions of Conception” at Rutgers University—Camden at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24.
Gilbert, a biologist invited by the Vatican to discuss the origins of life, refers to this hero myth as the “Look Who’s Talking” view of fertilization, a concept propelled by movies, not scientific fact.
What does happen, of course, is far more complicated. The first sperms to the egg aren’t the victors, they’re too immature. Fertilization can occur only after the female reproductive tract matures the sperm, changing its cell membrane to do so.
“The notion of the sperm being aggressive racers and the egg being a passive prize is a story,” says Gilbert, the Howard A. Schneiderman Professor of Biology at Swarthmore College. “It fits into traditional gender roles of active male and passive female. I look at the sperm/egg narrative as a subgenre of science fiction.”
Still skeptical? Attend Gilbert’s talk for a slideshow presentation of what actually happens in vivo, how his visits to the Vatican have impacted his research, and various pictorial examples of how cultural representations propagate conception myths.
Sponsored by the Rutgers–Camden Women’s Studies Program, this lecture is part of the colloquium “When Sex Meets Science,” which is funded through Rutgers University Faculty Advancement and Institutional Re-Imagination (RU-Fair) that seeks to promote women into science majors and into the sciences faculty.
The lecture will take place in room 110 of the Fine Arts Building, located on Third Street, between Cooper Street and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge on the Rutgers–Camden Campus.
For more information or to arrange an interview with Gilbert, call (856) 225-6627.
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Media Contact: Cathy K. Donovan
(856) 225-6627
E-mail: catkarm@camden.rutgers.edu