This book is a comprehensive, multi-authored work on the structure and function of the mammalian testis. The approach emphasizes gene expression, translation and production of specific gene products and the cellular and molecular regulation of these fundamental processes. Rather than provide a global survey of all aspects of male reproduction, this book stresses specific mechanisms that underscore the structure and function of the testis. It explains old and new concepts from a cellular and molecular perspective. This novel approach allows the authors to forge links between cell and molecular...

Conceptual advances in the biological sciences are marked by the applica tion of new techniques and experimental strategies. Nowhere has this ge neric principle been more apparent than in the study of testicular cells, as judged by the evolution of themes presented at the Testis Workshop over the past 23 years. Like its predecessors, the 1995 Testis Workshop was structured to offer fresh insights and approaches for understanding the mechanisms of spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis. The chapters pre sented in this book emphasize three aspects of testicular cell function: first, the molecular...