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.

How a sperm and an egg 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,

The researchers employed the artificial intelligence tool AlphaFold to uncover how sperm proteins interact at the molecular level.

The AlphaFold program, which predicts protein structures , identified a trio of proteins that team up to work as matchmakers between the gametes. Without them, sexual reproduction might hit a dead end in a wide range of animals, from fish to mammals.

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