Cryopreservation of Human Embryos: Basic Principles and Current Considerations

It is now approaching 50 years since the first reports were made on cryopreservation of mammalian embryos with successful recoveries and subsequent live births. These successes were the result of growing shared knowledge between the fields of reproductive biology and cryobiology. Once manipulation of human embryos became possible in infertility treatment, embryo cryopreservation was quickly taken up to enhance logistics and patient management within the clinical services. Now, embryo cryopreservation is seen as a crucial component to enhance overall success rates, whilst advances in cryobiology have brought forward new techniques such as vitrification. This chapter reviews the history of embryo cryopreservation, the basic scientific principles underpinning the technologies, and provides an example of how these are currently applied in a clinical practice.