• Question: how does a microscopic sperm cell create a fast growing baby?

    Asked by to Ben, Emily, Hattie, Jemma, Veronica on 23 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Emily Hayward

      Emily Hayward answered on 23 Jun 2014:

      Another great question Madscientist12345,

      Babies are created in a very clever way, a sperm and an egg combine and have all of the information required about the baby. These form 1 cell, which divides into 2, these each divide in 2 and so on so very quickly you get lots and lots of cells (2-4-8-16-32-64-128…the more there are, the more form when they divide). Once they have divided the cells cleaverly know what they need to become to be part of the body, wheather they are a skin cell, a lung cell, a bone cell, a brain cell, and where they should be. the cells in particular areas join together forming ’tissue’ such as the complete heart. Its all extremely clever!

    • Photo: Jemma Rowlandson

      Jemma Rowlandson answered on 26 Jun 2014:

      Hi!

      The way cells do this is actually pretty neat. The sperm and egg cells already contain all the information they need to create a baby. Once they meet the fertilised egg divides into two. These cells then divide again into two so you have four cells. Each of these four cells divides into two to produce sixteen cells. These cells keep dividing into two, so pretty quickly one can become millions!

      About four days after the egg is fertilised and begins to divide, the cells start to sort themselves into different groups. Once in these different groups cells continue to multiply, eventually forming different parts of the body.

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