Sperm swimming is caused by the same patterns that are believed to dictate zebra stripes
Originally published by University of Bristol on September 27, 2023 Graph. Credit: Hermes Gadêlha Patterns of chemical interactions are thought t o create patterns in nature such as stripes and spots . A new study shows that the mathematical basis of these patterns also governs how sperm tail moves . The findings, published in Nature Communications , on September 27, 2023, reveal that flagella movement of—for example, sperm tails and cilia —follows the same template for pattern formation that was discovered by mathematician Alan Turing . Flagellar undulations make stripe patterns in space-tim e, generating waves that travel along the tail to drive the sperm and microbes forward . Alan Turing is most well-known for helping to break the enigma code during WWII . However he also developed a theory of pattern formation that predicted that chemical patterns may appear spontaneously with only two ingredients : chemicals spreading out (diffusing) and reacting to