FRII-03 LAZZARO SPALLANZANI (1729-1799): THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION EXPERIMENTS

Abstract

You have accessJournal of UrologyHistory of Urology: History Forum II1 Apr 2016FRII-03 LAZZARO SPALLANZANI (1729-1799): THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION EXPERIMENTS Giorgio Bozzini, Mauro Seveso, Pietro Bono, Oliviero De Francesco, Alberto Mandressi, and Gianluigi Taverna Giorgio BozziniGiorgio Bozzini More articles by this author , Mauro SevesoMauro Seveso More articles by this author , Pietro BonoPietro Bono More articles by this author , Oliviero De FrancescoOliviero De Francesco More articles by this author , Alberto MandressiAlberto Mandressi More articles by this author , and Gianluigi TavernaGianluigi Taverna More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2016.02.2924AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Italian priest (Jesus Fellowship), physiologist and natural scientist, convincingly disproved the notion of spontaneous generation (creation of life from inanimate matter). He investigated the male contribution to procreation. METHODS Sources from medical journal, Italian and French manuscripts and European medical chronicles were analyzed regarding the life and contribution of Lazzaro Spallanzani. RESULTS Although Leeuwenhoek had first seen the spermatozoa, their function was not understood until some 30 years after the formulation of the cell theory in 1839. Using amphibians, Spallanzani showed that actual contact between egg and semen is essential for the development of a new animal and that filtered semen becomes less and less effective as filtration becomes more and more complete. He noted that the residue on the filter paper retained all its original power if it were immediately added to the water containing the eggs. Spallanzani concluded that the solid parts of the secretion, proteinaceous and fatty substances were essential for the fecundation, regarding the spermatozoa as inessential parasites. Despite this error, Spallanzani performed some of the first successful artificial insemination experiments on lower animals and on a dog. CONCLUSIONS Spallanzani with his insights and his ideas was the real inventor of artificial insemination. © 2016FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 195Issue 4SApril 2016Page: e521 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2016MetricsAuthor Information Giorgio Bozzini More articles by this author Mauro Seveso More articles by this author Pietro Bono More articles by this author Oliviero De Francesco More articles by this author Alberto Mandressi More articles by this author Gianluigi Taverna More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement Advertisement PDF downloadLoading ...