Is a Sperm alive?

Does anyone know if it meets all the criteria for a living organism?

What are the criteria?

Growth: A living organism must grow in some manner, most often by converting external materials into progeny or additional mass.

Stimulus Response: Living organisms must respond to stimuli in their environment. The amount of stimuli responded to may vary, as may the specific responses, but there must be some interface between the organism and the external world. Stimuli may result in simple metabolic shifts, or provoke complex behavioral changes.

Metabolism: Living organisms must be capable of converting energy in their environment into a new form. This definition is often given in much more scientifically-precise terms, to ensure the exclusion of pure-energy reactions such as stars.

Homeostasis: Living organisms are able to modify themselves on some level to remain within set parameters. This is related to stimulus response, but builds further on that idea.

Reproduction: All living organisms are capable of replicating. This may be done by interaction with other organisms (sexually), or autonomously (asexually).

Mutation: In addition to being able to reproduce, a living organism must be able to spontaneously change and develop between generations. Autonomous

Motion: A living thing is capable of locomotion.

Then I don’t know enough about sperm to answer. Sorry.

Interesting. I’ve never actually looked up the criteria for a living organism. Where did you get these?

Wouldn’t the sperm fail the test of being able to reproduce?

Of course it is a living organism. It is a human being in the haploid lifecycle. Some organisms have long haploid lifescycles (some fungi spend most of their lives that way) while others have long diploid lifecycles (like animals) while others split it about 50/50.

Is the mycelium “dead” and the fruiting body “alive”, or are they both alive?

Of course sperm reproduce – they make a human being to make more sperm!

It may be alive, but is it a living organism in itself? No. It is a part of a whole. Per the criteria, a sperm cannot reproduce, so it is not an organism. It is part of reproduction, but cannot reproduce sexually or asexually.

Of course it reproduces sexually – what do you think a human being is?

Are you saying sperm, as life, reproduces to make more sperm? The implications being there are female and male sperm?

We have two separate haploid lifecycles, sperm and egg. So what?

Like I said, in no other organism is there controversy that the haploid and diploid lifecycles are equally alive but hit animals and the excuses start flying. Hardly parsimonious.

I just find it amazing a whole species that has an independent existence as life, i.e. sperm, metamorphoses into humans when combined with another species, eggs. Amazing. It’d be if us humans joined with whales, and then metamorphed into another, way bigger, species.

Who said anything about a different species?

sigh Here is some reading on the subject:

ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/g … ergen.html

ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/g … ploid.html

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_life_cycle

genetics.org/cgi/content/full/156/2/893

And so on . . .

Thanks

lol =D>

Reproduction: All living organisms are capable of replicating. This may be done by interaction with other organisms (sexually), or autonomously (asexually).

Mutation: In addition to being able to reproduce, a living organism must be able to spontaneously change and develop between generations. Autonomous

These two areas seem to be a bit foggy when applied to the sperm.

Well, sperm do not reproduce to create other sperm.

Do we know if sperm mutate?

Where do you come by this definition? It seems inadequate to me. For instance, many plants aren’t capable of locomotion- are they not alive? If I have my cat spayed and therefore inable to reproduce is she not longer a living creature? Certain hybrid animals (ie crosses) are born sterile. Examples include the Tiger Muskie and the mule. Would you conclude they’re not alive?

Look up ‘chriteria for a living organism’ on google, snoop around and you will find many sources with this. It’s even in my biology textbook.

I just got done reading a book about outerspace and the possibility of extraterrestial life. They had a definition that was like the one here, but I don’t think it was as demanding.

Anyway, sperm can reproduce itself. It just uses people to do it. It’s like the chicken/egg thing. Are eggs here to make chickens or are chickens here to make eggs? Men, like sperm, can’t reproduce alone so would that make men not alive? Men use women and sperm to reproduce.

Anyway, it’s a good question. If sperm is alive, then I’m one mass-murderin’ SOB! The rigth to lifers would have a field day. “Every sperm is sacred, every egg devine” (Monte Python).