XIV Workshop on the Development and Function of Reproductive Organs

The XIV Workshop on the Development and Function of Reproductive Organs was held in Rome, from 14-17 September, 2008, at the Congress Centre of the University of Tor Vergata of Villa Mondragone (Rome, Italy). The Workshop was conceived to be a survey of the events from the formation of the gamete precursors, the primordial germ cells, to the development of the preimplantation embryo through female and male gametogenesis in the mouse experimental model. It was divided into six topics including classic and highly-debated current subjects in the field of the biology of reproduction: mammalian primordial germ cells, the formation of the gonads, stem cells and germ cells, gametogenesis from birth to adult (male), gametogenesis from birth to adult (female), and finally fertilization and preimplantation embryo.