Secreted by the sexual glands through a discharged known as ejaculation, semen is the fluid containing spermatozoa. It is used to fertalise the female ova in sexual reproduction.
Mainly composed of seminal plasma the human semen is a fluid secreted by the accessory male reproductive organs (the seminal vesicles and the prostate gland). Also contributing to the semens texture and cohesion is a small amount of viscous musus created from the bulbourethral organs glands.
The purpose of the seminal plasma, which semen is mainly composed of, is to protect and feed the spermatozoa during their journey to the ova through the female reproductive tract. The normal environment of the vagina is too acidic for sperm cells, aside from the presence of local cells which are part of the immune system and which view sperm cells as foreign entities. This is why the sperm contains a series of basic amines designed to counter the vagina acidity and to protect the DNA inside the sperm cell from acidic destruction.
Finally, the mucus and texturizing proteins serve to increase the mobility of sperm cells in the vagina and cervix by creating a less viscous channel for the sperm cells to swim through, and preventing their diffusion out of the semen.
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