Is an eggcell a complete cell with only half the DNA?

You are getting DNA mixed up with Chromosomes. The egg and the sperm each contribute ½ the chromosomes. The DNA is then compiled from that combination.

@YARNLADY Chromosomes are DNA, not the other way around.

no, sperm cells and egg cells both contain the same number of chromosomes : 23.
the DNA is then produced when these two cells form a new organism by joining together.
hope that helps

Most of your body cells contain 23 pairs of chromosomes – 46 chromosomes in all – which are faithfully copied when the cell divides by mitosis. The pairing of chromosomes makes cells diploid, containing the entire DNA genome.

Exception: Male sperm cells and female egg cells, collectively known as gametes, are produced by a special kind of cell division called meiosis, resulting in haploid gametes – each containing 23 unpaired chromosomes representing just half the genome.

During fertilization, the haploid gametes merge to form a diploid zygote, restoring a full complement of 46 chromosomes from which the embryo develops.

You might be confusing ordinary somatic DNA with mitochondrial DNA. While a sperm has barely enough mitochondria to power its flagellum, the egg cell (ovum) is loaded with mitochondria throughout its abundant cytoplasm. Hence the zygote inherits almost all its mitochondrial DNA from its mother, and mitochondrial DNA is passed on almost exclusively mother-to-daughter. This enables a parallel line of genetic descent distinct from ordinary inheritance, serving as an independent tool for genetic research.

As for two sperm and one enucleated ovum (with its nucleus removed, normally a step in cloning) all resulting in a normal zygote, is pretty far-fetched as far as I know. There’s a whole complex sequence of cytoplasmic and nuclear events that must occur, so it’s doubtful anything would result.

Everyone seems to be confused about what I am or am not confused about. I don’t feel confused, or even mistaken. But thanks for the reply @gasman, that seems to answer my question.

If I recall correctly from high school biology classes, yes, an egg cell is a single cell with half the DNA of the person it could grow into. It has 23 chromosomes, and the sperm contributes the other 23.

I don’t know if a sperm contributes anything else to the embryo, besides its DNA.
I also don’t know if the cellular mechanics of impregnation would allow for two sperm cells impregnating one ovum, even if they’d have enough DNA for it. I recall talk of a barrier of some sort being set up the moment one sperm has contacted the egg cell, to keep all the other sperms out.
If two sperms arrive at the same time and impregnate one egg cell together, the embryo can grow into a monozygotic twin.

As a side note, since a sperm cell can have an X or a Y sexual chromosome, if two sperm cells could together impregnate one DNA-less ovum, you could get a child with two Y chromosomes.
I wonder what it would be like. I bet all sorts of things would go horribly wrong.

@Fyrius It probably wouldn’t even be viable as an embryo…

But this pure male probably wouldn’t have nipples, which seems like a plus.

Just for the record, two male sex cells have been used to create an embryo with no paternal DNA.

If two sperm could fuse to supply a complete genome to an enucleated ovum, then 50% of those offspring would be male (XY) while 25% would be female (XX) and 25% would be the abnormal YY. Although YY aneuploidy occurs in 1.3% of sperm ref, I don’t think it’s seen clinically in living people, so complete lack of an X chromosome must be lethal. It follows that (living) offspring would be ⅔ female, ⅓ male. Weird. & as I said probably impossible

The sperm (spermatozoan) has a long flagellum for swimming, but it’s head is a minimal cell holding a payload of chromosomes, along with some molecules that mediate fertilization. While it holds half the genome, it contributes little else to the zygote, which then divides and develops into a blastocyst, then embryo, etc. I’m pretty sure that without a complete genome, however, the zygote is not viable and no embryo will form.

Oops—it’s spermatozoon; plural -zoa (-1 for spelling:)
Wikipedia says…

”The spermatozoon is characterized by a minimum of cytoplasm and the most densely packed DNA known in eukaryotes. Compared to mitotic chromosomes in somatic cells, sperm DNA is at least sixfold more highly condensed.”

So each sperm is like a tiny DNA torpedo targeted on the ovum nucleus. Pardon any male-stereotype military metaphors…