You Didn't Win The Sperm Race

Submission 7,050

About

You Didn't Win The Sperm Race refers to research by Stockholm University which suggests that contrary to popular belief, the human sperm that fertilizes an egg is not the first sperm to make it to the egg but rather a sperm which is chemically selected from many by the egg. A graphic explaining the findings has been paired with reaction images online expressing how the poster is "the chosen one."

Origin

On June 10th, 2020, Stockholm University^[1] published findings that stated that contrary to popular belief, the human sperm which fertilized a human egg is not necessarily the first to reach the egg but is rather selected by the egg from many sperm by using chemoattractants. According to the study, sperm are essentially put through an obstacle course on the way to an egg, as the egg sends out signals which can make some sperm swim away from the egg or kill others. The findings could have implications for fertility treatments, as they suggest a woman's eggs may not be compatible with their partner's sperm but could be compatible with another man's.

Shortly after the study was published, a graphic explaining its findings began circulating online. On June 12th, Facebook page CampusDoctor^[2] posted the graphic (shown below).

Spread

On June 18th, 2020, Reddit user Cybersandy98^[3] posted the first reaction image based on the information to /r/memes, adding a still image from Harry Potter under the graphic, gaining over 24,000 points (shown below, left). The same day, a version of the meme featuring Daisy Ridley appeared on 9gag (shown below, right).

On June 19th, iFunny user PizzaGateSteve^[5] posted an Indiana Jones reaction image with the graphic, gaining 86 likes (shown below, left). Months later, the format saw a resurgence in popularity on Reddit when on September 16th, user FreddyKrum^[4] posted a Prequel Meme to /r/memes, gaining over 62,000 points (shown below, left). The meme was covered by Mel Magazine.^[6]