Soler Carles, Cooper Trevor G
Department of Functional Biology and Physical Anthropology, University of València, 46100 Burjassot, València, Spain.
Department of R+D, Proiser R+D, Science Park, University of València, 46980 Paterna, València, Spain.
Asian J Androl. 2016 Nov-Dec;18(6):815-818. doi: 10.4103/1008-682X.187582.
Early in his investigations, Leeuwenhoek (1670s) deduced that spermatozoa were alive and an integral part of semen, rather than artifacts or parasites. He eventually observed spermatozoa in the semen of men, dogs, horses, birds, fishes, amphibians, molluscs, and many insects, and concluded that they must be a universal feature of male reproduction. The huge differences in sperm form among species have been discussed in relation to evolutionary changes dictated by the egg and its investments. Spallanzani (1800s) was the first scientist to develop successful methods for artificial insemination, first with amphibians and later with dogs. With these experiments, he showed that physical contact between intact spermatozoa and ova was necessary to achieve the fertilization. Some years later (1820s), Prévost and Dumas performed the defining experiment to identify correctly the function of spermatozoa in reproduction.
在早期的研究中，列文虎克（17世纪70年代）推断精子是有生命的，并且是精液的一个组成部分，而不是人工制品或寄生虫。他最终在人类、狗、马、鸟类、鱼类、两栖动物、软体动物和许多昆虫的精液中观察到了精子，并得出结论，它们一定是雄性生殖的一个普遍特征。关于物种间精子形态的巨大差异，已结合卵子及其附属物所决定的进化变化进行了讨论。斯帕兰扎尼（19世纪）是第一位开发出成功的人工授精方法的科学家，最初是对两栖动物，后来是对狗。通过这些实验，他表明完整的精子与卵子之间的物理接触是实现受精所必需的。几年后（19世纪20年代），普雷沃斯特和杜马斯进行了决定性的实验，以正确确定精子在生殖中的功能。
