Male fertility: Is spermiogenesis the critical step for answering biomedical issues?

Abstract

Regarding male fertility, biomedical issues have opposite goals to treat infertility or develop contraceptive drugs. Recently, the identification of the molecular mechanisms involved in germ cell differentiation suggest that spermiogenesis has to be put at the crossroad to reach these goals. Concerning fertility issues, citizens in our modern world are schizophrenic. On one side, couples have the possibility to control conception; and on the other side, more and more couples suffer from the misfortune of being infertile. These two societal problems lead to intensive research and conflicting government policies. However, these opposing goals rely on a better understanding of germ cell differentiation.