Indian contribution to reproductive physiology: the last 2 decades

The end of twentieth century is witnessing far-reaching changes in the reproductive behaviour of modern man. Population is doubling now in a record time of 30 years in some parts of the world like India. On the other hand, living-together without marriage and widespread use of contraceptives is making child bearing highly optional in the West. Technological advances in the realm of in-vitro fertilization and genetic manipulation have opened up enormous possibilities, bringing us almost on the verge of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. It is natural, therefore, that reproduction has become an attractive area of research for physiologists. We review here some of the significant contributions made by Indians to reproduction physiology during the last 20 years (1970-1990). Considerable pruning of available material has been necessary. The emphasis sometimes was on Physiologists although their contribution may not be exactly basic physiology, and sometimes on Physiology although the contributors were not exactly physiologists.