Photoactivatable (alternatively, photoremovable, photoreleasable, or photocleavable)
protecting groups (PPGs), also known as caged or photocaged compounds, are used to …

Locomotion and transport of microorganisms in fluids is an essential aspect of life. Search
for food, orientation toward light, spreading of off-spring, and the formation of colonies are …

Activity and autonomous motion are fundamental in living and engineering systems. This
has stimulated the new field of'active matter'in recent years, which focuses on the physical …

In the oviduct, cumulus cells that surround the oocyte release progesterone. In human
sperm, progesterone stimulates a Ca2+ increase by a non-genomic mechanism,,. The Ca2+ …

Infertility is a growing global health issue with far-reaching socioeconomic implications. A
downward trend in male fertility highlights the acute need for affordable and accessible …

Chemotactic bacteria rely on local concentration gradients to guide them towards the source
of a nutrient. Such local cues pointing towards the location of the source are not always …

A proper dialogue between spermatozoa and the egg is essential for conception of a new
individual in sexually reproducing animals. Ca2+ is crucial in orchestrating this unique event …

Dynamic tracking of human sperms across a large volume is a challenging task. To provide
a high-throughput solution to this important need, here we describe a lensfree on-chip …

Contrary to the prevalent view, there seems to be no competition in the mammalian female
genital tract among large numbers of sperm cells that are racing towards the egg. Instead …

Sperm require a sense of direction to locate the egg for fertilization. They follow gradients of
chemical and physical cues provided by the egg or the oviduct. However, the principles …