X-Message-Number: 10543
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1998 09:15:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: freeze-dried spermatozoa

"Development of Normal Mice From Oocytes Injected With Freeze-dried
Spermatozoa"
Nature Biotechnology 16: 639-641 July 1998

Abstract:

   Freeze-dried mouse spermatozoa are all motionless and dead in the
conventional sense. When injected into oocytes, however, their nuclei can
support normal embryonic development even after three month preservation in
a dried state. Although the freeze-drying protocol reported here will need
further improvement, the results suggest that it may be possible to store
the male genomes at room temperature.

Excerpt from editorial comments from pages 618-619:

  An advantage of the methods reported in the current paper is the
simplicity of the freeze-drying procedure, which may require little more
than dry ice and a vacuum pump.

Additional note by poster:

  Addition of membrane permeable anhydroprotectants such as erthyritol was
not attempted in the current experiment. This would be a logical next step;
to attempt to preserve the viability of the spermatozoa themselves.

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