Text: Fertilization...
Cartoon of sperm approching egg: one sperm has a key in it's head.
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Drawing of Female tract.  Labeled: Fallopian Tubes, Uterus, Vagina, Cervix.  Shows where sperm are deposited in the vagina near the cervix, then travel up through the uterus and tube to fertilze the egg
Fertilization happens in the Fallopian tube.  During fertilization, the head of the sperm interacts with the wall (zona pellucida) of the egg.  This allows the sperm to penetrate through the egg wall and release its genetic material into the egg, after which no other sperm are allowed inside of the egg.  Genetic material (the chromosomes containing DNA ) from both parents mix within the egg to form the earliest preimplantation embryo (2 pronucleus or 2PN) stage, which is considered day 1.  The embryo then begins to develop as it passes through the Fallopian tube to the uterus.
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