RESUMEN
Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance you must keep moving. -Albert Einstein.
Asunto(s)
Criopreservación/tendencias , Infertilidad/terapia , Técnicas Reproductivas Asistidas/tendencias , Bancos de Esperma/tendencias , Espermatozoides , Criopreservación/ética , Criopreservación/historia , Difusión de Innovaciones , Femenino , Fertilidad , Predicción , Historia del Siglo XX , Historia del Siglo XXI , Humanos , Infertilidad/diagnóstico , Infertilidad/fisiopatología , Masculino , Embarazo , Técnicas Reproductivas Asistidas/ética , Técnicas Reproductivas Asistidas/historia , Bancos de Esperma/ética , Bancos de Esperma/historiaRESUMEN
Using the example of 'sperm tales', borne out of the biomedical technologies that went hand in hand with the establishment of the 'science of man' (andrology), the article engages with the epistemic evolution of interrelated biomedical theories and concepts of what constitutes a 'healthy' reproductive male body. The article asks: how has the normative ideal male body been either perpetuated or interrogated through these tales of male reproduction at the interface between scientific and medical technologies? And how were changes to the normalization of male bodies central to clinical practices and cultural understandings of health and illness? With many aspects of the medical history of male reproduction in the 20th century still unexplored, this article will focus on the growing intervention of biomedicine to 'treat' male infertility by way of the classification, standardization and normalization of male corporeality, focusing in particular on the representation and construction of men and the male body, as reflected in medical science and practice from the second half of the 20th century onwards in Germany. The article analyses the rise in importance of sperm in biomedical investigation, including a consideration of the construction of infertility as the defining force behind concepts of 'healthy men', and examines the related conceptualization of male reproductive bodies at the crossroad between 'healthy' and 'normal'. It is argued that the ideal of male reproduction as being inherently healthy has lost ground. By the late 20th century, male bodies have become vulnerable, at least as represented in medical science and technology.
Asunto(s)
Infertilidad Masculina , Salud Reproductiva , Bancos de Esperma , Alemania , Historia del Siglo XIX , Historia del Siglo XX , Humanos , Infertilidad Masculina/historia , Masculino , Modelos Teóricos , Técnicas Reproductivas/historia , Bancos de Esperma/historia , Espermatozoides/fisiologíaAsunto(s)
Bancos de Sangre , Bancos de Leche Humana , Preservación de Órganos , Salud Pública , Bancos de Esperma , Conservación de Tejido , Bancos de Sangre/economía , Bancos de Sangre/historia , Bancos de Sangre/legislación & jurisprudencia , Economía/historia , Economía/legislación & jurisprudencia , Historia del Siglo XX , Historia del Siglo XXI , Cuerpo Humano , Bancos de Leche Humana/economía , Bancos de Leche Humana/historia , Bancos de Leche Humana/legislación & jurisprudencia , Preservación de Órganos/economía , Preservación de Órganos/historia , Preservación de Órganos/psicología , Salud Pública/economía , Salud Pública/educación , Salud Pública/historia , Salud Pública/legislación & jurisprudencia , Cambio Social/historia , Bancos de Esperma/economía , Bancos de Esperma/historia , Bancos de Esperma/legislación & jurisprudencia , Conservación de Tejido/economía , Conservación de Tejido/historia , Estados Unidos/etnologíaRESUMEN
Although the basic principles controlling the sex of mammalian offspring have been known for a relatively long time, recent application of certain modern cellular methodologies has led to development of a flow cytometric system capable of differentiating and separating living X- and Y-chromosome-bearing sperm in amounts suitable for AI and therefore, commercialization of this sexing technology. After a very long history of unsuccessful attempts to differentiate between mammalian sperm that produce males from those that produce females, a breakthrough came in 1981 when it was demonstrated that precise DNA content could be measured. Although these initial measurements of DNA content killed the sperm in the process, they led to the ultimate development of a sperm sorting system that was capable, not only of differentiating between live X- and Y-sperm, but of sorting them into relatively pure X- and Y-sperm populations without obvious cellular damage. Initial efforts to predetermine the sex of mammalian offspring in 1989 required surgical insemination, but later enhancements provided sex-sorted sperm in quantities suitable for use with IVF. Subsequent advances in flow sorting provided minimal numbers of sperm sufficient for use in AI. It was not until the flow cytometric sorting system was improved greatly and successful cryopreservation of sex-sorted bull sperm was developed that efficacious approaches to commercialization of sexed semen could be implemented worldwide in cattle. A number of companies now offer sex-sorted bovine sperm. Innovative approaches by a diverse group of scientists along with advances in computer science, biophysics, cell biology, instrumentation, and applied reproductive physiology provided the basis for commercializing sexed semen in cattle.