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Science 12 April 1963:
Vol. 140. no. 3563, pp. 184 - 186
DOI: 10.1126/science.140.3563.184
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Articles

Spermatogenesis in Man: An Estimate of Its Duration

Carl G. Heller 1 and Yves Clermont 1

1 Pacific Northwest Research Foundation 1102 Columbia Street, Seattle 4, Washington, and Department of Anatomy, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

Testicular biopsies were obtained at various intervals after intratesticular injections of tritiated thymidine. Radioautographs revealed that the most mature labeled germ cells were the preleptotene spermatocytes at 1 hour, the midpachytene spermatocytes at 16 days, and the immature spermatids at 32 days after injection. These results indicated that one cycle of the seminiferous epithelium lasts 16 days, and the whole of spermatogenesis is estimated to consume approximately 64 days.


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