On your mark. Get set. Go! In the race for conception, most of us have been taught it’s the strength and swiftness of the wiggling ejaculate that determines which sperm gets to the finish line first.

During mammalian reproduction, millions of sperm undertake a journey that only one will finish. This journey to fertilization has been commonly viewed as a race: a sea of sperm competing to get to the ...

Menopause is known to mark a major transition in women’s bodies, but its effects on the reproductive system as a whole is ...

The cellular biology of reproduction is often depicted as an epic journey, in which millions of intrepid sperm fight to be the first to claim the ultimate prize: the chance to fertilize the egg, which ...

Getting the job done. A female Asian water dragon (Physignathus cocincinus) produced a daughter (left) without the assistance of a male. Skip Brown/Smithsonian’s National Zoo An Asian water dragon ...