CRYOPRESERVATIONSPERM BANKING

ANDARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION

G. KarthikeyanLS141082nd YearM.Sc., Life SciencesBharathidasan University

INTRODUCTION

Cryobiology derives from three greek words:

Cryos- cold; Bios-Life; logos-course of study

It is defined as the process of arresting all biological process and placing biological material (cells, oocytes, embryos, spermatozoa or tissue )into a suspended state of animation at an ultra-low temperature.

CRYOPRESERVATIONFirst documented by Boyle

(1663).First concept of sperm

preservation by Lazzaro spallanzini(1760).

Most significant discovery was the use of glycerol as cryoprotectant by Polge and smith(1949)

PRINCIPLE

1. FREEZING 2. STORING3. THAWING

CONT..The ability of glycerol to protect cells from

freezing injury was discovered accidentally. The subsequent development of

cryopreservation techniques has had a huge impact in many fields, most notably in reproductive medicine.

Freezing injury has been shown to have two components, direct damage from the ice crystals and secondary damage caused by the increase in concentration of solutes as progressively more ice is formed.

Intracellular freezing is generally lethal but can be avoided by sufficiently slow cooling, and under usual conditions solute damage dominates.

WHY CRYOPRESERVATION?Availability and preservation of raw biological

materials are the major challenge in the widespread use of assisted reproduction technology in humans and livestock.

For example, many artificial insemination procedures rely on availability of cryopreserved sperm.

Similarly, cryopreserved oocytes and embryos are being increasingly used in assisted reproduction procedures.

CRYOPROTECTANTSA cryoprotective agent is a substance added to the

freezing medium to prevent the biological material from freezing injures that is damage due to ice formation

In experimental biology, the conventional CPAs are glycols and glycerol

Common cryoprotectants:

DMSO-Dimethyl sulfoxideEthylene glycolGlycerol

The presence of cryoprotectants in the freezing solution is necessary to prevent cell damage during freezing and thawing of the samples

Cryoprotectants are included in the solutions to freeze the cells to lower the freezing point

CONT..

SPERM BANKING

Sperm banking is the name for the collection and storage of semen

Semen is the fluid that contains sperm, Sperm banking is also known as sperm cryopreservation or semen storage

PURPOSE:The purpose of cryopreserving

semen (sperm banking) is to help ensure the possibility of conception in the future

TWO TYPES :Short-term Semen CryobankingLong-Term Semen Cryobanking

Short-term Semen Cryobanking

Short-term semen cryobanking is the depositing, freezing and storage of sperm at a sperm bank for less than one year

Cryobanked sperm is then used in artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other fertility treatment procedures

Assisted reproductive technologies ,

(i.e., in vitro fertilization, gamete intrafallopian transfer, etc...)

Long-Term Semen Cryopreservation

 Time-tested techniques enable semen specimens and embryos to be frozen and stored indefinitely in liquid nitrogen

According to the donor’s specific wishes, these specimens and embryos can later be thawed and used in an attempt to conceive through artificial insemination, IVF or other fertility treatment techniques.

ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION

Artificial insemination is a fertility treatment that delivers sperm to the female using a tube to reach the cervix for intracervical insemination (ICI) or the uterus for intrauterine insemination (IUI)

ICI and IUI are very quick and painless procedures that can be attempted many times without any injury to the receiving party

Artificial Insemination Method

The insemination procedure involves injecting prepared sperm into the female reproductive tract through the vagina

Intra cervical insemination (depositing of sperm into the cervical opening)

Intra uterine insemination (depositing of sperm into the uterus)

Speculum , a medical tool is used to insert the sperms into female reproductive track

Small amount of fluid is present inside the injection needle were the catheter is at edge of the needle

Needle is fixed into speculum and further process of injection was carried out

The insemination procedure takes 5 to 10 minutes and is usually performed once or twice a month until pregnancy is achieved

Procedure

REFERENCE

• Textbook of Animal Biotechnology• Institute of Cancer Biology , United

Kingdom

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