Oocyte Cryopreservation: Paradigm in Assisted Reproduction Technology

Cryopreservation is the branch of science in which the effects of very low temperature on living beings at cellular level are observed in order to standardize efficient protocols for cryopreservation. The ultimate aim of cryobiologists is to develop cost-effective and new protocols to avoid tissue damage induced by low temperature. The science of cryobiology will prove panacea in the area of reproductive biology in the future. Cryopreservation of oocytes will have multiple applications for animals and human beings. Particularly in the context of farm animals, oocytes can be retrieved from live animals even if they are prepubertal, infertile, pregnant, or dead. The oocytes collected from any source can be subjected to freezing for creating repositories in the form of oocyte banks. Thus, valuable genetic bloodlines from females can be preserved, and oocytes, rather than embryos from a proven sire, can be marketed. Frozen-thawed oocytes could be also later used for producing live offspring for faster multiplication of superior germplasm or for use in reproductive technologies like production of cloned or transgenic livestock or production of embryonic stem cells. Oocyte cryopreservation will prove a paradigm in assisted reproduction technology.