I am posting additional information about the process of ovum fertilization by sperm that includes a so-called “zinc spark,” a brief and transient appearance of light occurring immediately after a sperm fertilizes an ovum. i am including exerpts from an early article that summarizes the “zinc fireworks” that are seen when a sperm meets and penetrates an ovum/egg. Megan fillman summarized this process in a press release in the argonne national laboratory in 2014. the zinc spark gives notice of the process that leads to activation of molecular processes that cause an ovum to develop into a living, dividing embryo, the process that signifies the beginning of a life.
“high-energy x-ray imaging techniques were employed [by researchers at] northwestern university [and] the u.s. department of energy’s advanced photon source at argonne national laboratory.”
these studies were “the first to capture images of these molecular fireworks and pinpoint the origin of the zinc sparks: tiny zinc-rich packages just below the egg’s surface. zinc flux plays a central role in regulating the biochemical processes that ensure a healty egg-to-embryo transition. . . . the amount of zinc released by an egg could be a great marker for identifying a high-quality fertilized egg. . . . scientists discovered close to 8000 compartments in the egg, each containing approximately one million zinc atoms. these packages release their zinc cargo simultaneously in a concerted process, akin to neurotransmitter release in the brain. . . . the study establishes how eggs compartmentalize and distribute zinc to control the developmental processes that allow the egg to become a healthy embryo. zinc is part of a master switch that controls the decision to grow and change into a completely new genetic organism. . . . an egg loses 10 billion of its 60 billion zinc atoms upon fertilization in a series of four or five waves called ‘zinc sparks.’ release of zinc sparks from the egg is essential for embryo formation in the two hours following fertilization. the egg first has to stockpile zinc [in vesicles near the cell’s surface] and then must release some of the zinc to successfully navigate maturation, fertilization and the start of embryogenesis. . . . this study lays the groundwork for understanding how zinc fluxes can regulate events in multiple biological systems beyond the egg, including neurotransmission from zinc-enriched neurons.”
francesca e. duncan and coauthors published an article entitled “the zinc spark is an inorganic signature of human egg activation,” scientific reports, april 26, 2016. it was pointed out that “egg activation refers to events required for transition of a gamete into an embryo, including establishment of the polyspermy block, completion of meiosis, entry into mitosis, selective recruitment and degradation of maternal mRNA, and pronuclear development. . . . these egg activation methods . . . induced rises in intracellular calcium levels and also triggered the coordinated release of zinc into the extracellular space in a prominent ‘zinc spark [of light].’
in my fellowship studies i observed an inverse association between serum zinc levels and neutrophil phagocytosis, suggesting that zinc exerts an inhibitory effect on certain cellular activities. it is interesting that these scientists concluded that the release of vesicular zinc into the extracellular space of ova inhibited fertilization of an egg by more than a single sperm, thus controlling genetic transfer.
we see that the release of light accompanies ovum fertilization with the start of molecular and biochemical processes that lead to a living embryo and subsequently a living being. we see that this process is highly coordinated and complex, indicating that it is a process of intelligent design by a mind, the mind of god.