What percentage of cellular energy is used for miosis?

Question

Since I couldn't get any SERIOUS answers the first time, I thought I might try it this way: I know that basal metabolism produces the energy needed just to stay alive. I know that 38% (or something to that effect) of produced energy is used for digestion. I know a person can produce enough energy to move a block their own weight. I know that whatever amount of energy that is being used for reproduction (miosis) after puberty equals the amount of energy in excess a person had before puberty. (Meaning, whatever energy your body is using to create eggs/sperm now, your body had that much energy to waste then.) Now, to figure out what percentage of cellular energy goes into the process of miosis...

Serious and scientific answers, please, people. I'm trying to use this information for a legitimate perpose, other than to woe some girl. So if you don't know, don't post.

Answer 1

Well, presumably just about all the energy that the cells involved in meiosis get is ultimately used to produce sperm cells. After puberty, the size of a mans' testicles is usually about six times the pre-puberty size, so I suppose it's pretty safe to assume that most of that difference is the difference involved in producing those sperm cells. The average man's testicles are 18 mL in size apiece, so that's a total of 30 mL of sperm-producing tissue spending pretty much all the energy it gets in producing sperm.

An average human body is about 76 L in volume and requires about 1500 Calories per day. Sperm production therefore represents 0.04% of the total cellular volume. If that parallels out to energy use, that means that 0.6 Calories are consumed in producing sperm each day.

I haven't the slightest idea how accurate this guess is, but it seems like a good thumb estimate. Likewise, I have no idea how much energy females would consume in producing eggs, but given parallel systems it seems reasonable that it would be a roughly similar amount (eggs are larger and have more in them, but much fewer are prepared). Because females produce and slough off substantial amounts of tissue as well, I would expect their overall repoductive cost to be much higher, but it seems that you were just asking about germ cells so we'll restrict our consideration to these.

Hope that helps!