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Fertility preservation through gonadal cryopreservation

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Reproductive Medicine and Biology

Abstract

Fertility preservation is an area of immense interest in today's society. The most effective and established means of fertility preservation is cryopreservation of gametes (sperm and oocytes) and embryos. Gonadal cryopreservation is yet another means for fertility preservation, especially if the gonadal function is threatened by premature menopause, gonadotoxic cancer treatment, surgical castration, or diseases. It can also aid in the preservation of germplasm of animals that die before attaining sexual maturity. This is especially of significance for valuable, rare, and endangered animals whose population is affected by high neonatal/juvenile mortality because of diseases, poor management practices, or inbreeding depression. Establishing genome resource banks to conserve the genetic status of wild animals will provide a critical interface between ex-situ and in-situ conservation strategies. Cryopreservation of gonads effectively lengthens the genetic lifespan of individuals in a breeding program even after their death and contributes towards germplasm conservation of prized animals. Although the studies on domestic animals are quite promising, there are limitations for developing cryopreservation strategies in wild animals. In this review, we discuss different options for gonadal tissue cryopreservation with respect to humans and to laboratory, domestic, and wild animals. This review also covers recent developments in gonadal tissue cryopreservation and transplantation, providing a systematic view and the advances in the field with the possibility for its application in fertility preservation and for the conservation of germplasm in domestic and wild species.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Drs. Deepali Garg and Sadanand Sontakke for critically reviewing the manuscript. Ms. Lavanya Pothana is acknowledged for providing help with the images. We would like to thank all present and past laboratory colleagues who contributed directly or indirectly to this article. This work was supported by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India (Grant Number BSC0207).

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  1. Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Uppal Road, Hyderabad, 500 007, India

    Lalitha Devi & Sandeep Goel

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  1. Lalitha Devi
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  2. Sandeep Goel
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Correspondence to Sandeep Goel.

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Lalitha Devi and Sandeep Goel declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Devi, L., Goel, S. Fertility preservation through gonadal cryopreservation. Reprod Med Biol 15, 235–251 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12522-016-0240-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12522-016-0240-1

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