The team found that three proteins on the sperm join to form a sort of key that unlocks the egg, allowing the sperm to attach. Their findings, published in the journal Cell, drawn from studies in zebrafish, mice, and human cells, show how this process has persisted over millions of years of evolution.

In a new study, researchers have identified a trio of proteins that serve as the critical key in allowing sperm to fuse with an egg, a process that marks the first step in creating new life. The researchers employed the artificial intelligence tool AlphaFold to uncover how sperm proteins interact at the molecular level,

AlphaFold predicted that three sperm proteins work together to form a complex. Two of these proteins were previously known to be important for fertility. Pauli and her colleagues then confirmed that the third is also critical for fertility in both zebrafish and mice, and that the three proteins interact with one another.

New life begins with the meeting of sperm and egg. But how they fuse together has long been a mystery. New research by scientists in Austria provides tantalizing clues, showing fertilization works like a lock and key across the animal kingdom,

AlphaFold revealed a trio of sperm proteins enables fertilization by binding to egg proteins. The mechanism works in zebrafish and humans.

Using Google’s AlphaFold, researchers identified the bundle of three sperm proteins that seem to make sexual reproduction possible.