Semen cryopreservation in domestic animals: a damaging and capacitating phenomenon.

The genetic improvement of agriculturally important species and disease control are of fundamental importance to the success of a sustainable agri-food industry. In this sense, artificial insemination (AI) is arguably the most important tool contributing to the advancement of modern animal production. Through AI, 1 ejaculate from a genetically superior male can be used to impregnate multiple females to maximize the distribution of agriculturally favorable genes. As well, AI eliminates physical contact between animals, thus limiting the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Successful semen cryopreservation enhances these advantages of AI over natural breeding. Long-term storage facilitates semen transport over distances, permits the quarantine of semen, and enables extended use of superior germplasm, even after the sire’s death. For agriculturally important animals, semen cryopreservation is an established industry worldwide, particularly for dairy cattle. Genome resource banking to preserve the biodiversity of endangered species or valuable transgenic lines also would benefit from sperm cryopreservation. For many mammals; however, effective semen cryopreservation is not a reality because a large number of sperm are apparently infertile following freezing and thawing. Compared to fresh, 8 times more cryopreserved bovine sperm were required to achieve equivalent fertilization rates in vivo (Shannon and Vishwanath, 1995). Although AI in pigs with fresh, cooled semen is increasingly popular, the fertility of cryopreserved semen remains about half that of fresh semen (Crabo, 1991). Following either transuterine or oviductal insemination of superovulated ewes, conception rates and percentage of fer-