A century of andrology in Cell & Tissue Research: looking back while moving forward

This article commemorates the 100th anniversary of the first issue of Cell & Tissue Research (CTR), the longest-running active journal dedicated to cell biology. Reflecting the significant contributions of spermatology and embryology to the early days of cell biology, the majority of articles in CTR’s inaugural issue centered on plant and animal sperm cells. A brief synopsis of these articles provides a launching point for revisiting 100 years of research on the male germ cells and fertility in humans and animals and offers a perspective on the current state and future directions of the andrology field. Early technological advances in light and electron microscopy enabled descriptive studies that ushered in the era of mechanistic, biochemistry-based inquiry focused on the understanding of physiological sperm processes such as sperm capacitation, acrosomal exocytosis, and sperm-egg interactions. In the last 20 years, progress in flow cytometry, cell imaging, and omics revealed new information on sperm proteome, transcriptome, metabolome, and overall phenome of fertile and infertile spermatozoa. Going back to the journal’s roots, recent advances in male germ cell isolation, transplantation, modification, and cryopreservation have been discussed on the pages of CTR. Newest trends such as gene editing and artificial intelligence/machine learning are now making inroads into andrological inquiry and assisted reproductive therapy of male infertility.