BACKGROUND The traditional vitrification method cannot keep up with the increased culture and propagation efficiency required to cryopreserve large quantities of vigorously proliferating human embryonic stem (HES) cells. In this study, we describe a newly invented vitrification carrier for cryopreserving large amount of HES cells and evaluate whether this bulk vitrification (BV) method is as ef...

Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is the most serious complication of controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) as part of assisted reproductive technologies (ART). While the safety and efficacy of ART is well established, physicians should always be aware of the risk of OHSS in patients undergoing COS, as it can be fatal. This article will briefly present the pathophysiology of OHSS, includi...

Successfully cryopreserving cells adhered to a substrate would facilitate the growth of a vital confluent cell culture after thawing while dramatically shortening the post-thaw culturing time. Herein we propose a controlled slow cooling method combining initial directional freezing followed by gradual cooling down to -80°C for robust preservation of cell monolayers adherent to a substrate. Usin...

In 2005, the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) Consortium published a set of Guidelines for Best Practice to give information, support and guidance to potential, existing and fledgling PGD programmes (Thornhill AR, De Die-Smulders CE, Geraedts JP, Harper JC, Harton GL, Lavery SA, Moutou C, Robinson MD, Schmutzler AG, Scriven P...

BACKGROUND Ovarian failure is a common sequel to chemo/radiotherapy in patients successfully treated for cancer. Harvesting, cryopreserving and subsequently re-implanting ovarian cortical grafts can be used to re-establish reproductive potential in women with cancer. The safety issue, however, is of great concern because residual disease in autografted ovarian tissues might cause recrudescence ...

The zebrafish mutation project (ZMP) aims to generate a loss of function allele for every protein-coding gene, but importantly to also characterise the phenotypes of these alleles during the first five days of development. Such a large-scale screen requires a systematic approach both to identifying phenotypes, and also to linking those phenotypes to specific mutations. This phenotyping pipeline...

This research aimed at investigating the cryoprotectant action of glucose and lactose on strains of Malassezia spp. and zygomycetes immobilised in sodium alginate. Twelve strains of Malassezia spp. (nine M. furfur, two M. globosa and one M. sympodialis) and 12 zygomycetes (five Rhizopus oryzae and seven Mucor hiemales) were immobilised in sodium alginate, within plastic beads, maintained in app...

Glutathione(GSH) is an antioxidant that being studied for its ability to improvecellular responses semen preservation challenges. The research goal aimed toevaluate the impact of introducing different glutathioneconcentrations boar freezing extender (0, 1, 5, and 10 mM) onthe Kolbroek sperm's quality after frozen thawed. For 2 h, thecollected sperm-rich fraction was chilled at 17°C. Following 1...

Background Male infertility management has made significant progress during the past three decades, especially after the introduction of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in 1992. However, many boys and men still suffer from primary testicular failure due to acquired or genetic causes. New and novel treatments are needed to address these issues. Spermatogenesis originates from spermatogon...