Cryopreservation is an excellent solution for preserving a strain, reducing maintenance costs, protecting a strain in case of a major event, or preventing strain drift.
Cryopreservation of sperm and embryos
For this procedure, you must provide a minimum of 2 males aged between 3 and 6 months. If it is a strain rescue, it is possible to perform the procedure with only one male; however, the yield may be affected.
The procedure involves harvesting the epididymal tails and extracting spermatozoa for freezing. To ensure the viability of the sperm, validation will be conducted. This involves thawing a straw of cryopreserved sperm, performing in vitro fertilization, and observing the first cell division upon incubation (two-cell stage). If the fertilization rate is adequate, the sperm batch will be validated.
Please note that during the thawing of cryopreserved sperm, fertilization will be performed using eggs from “wildtype” females (genetic background corresponding to that of your strain). For example, if the sperm from a homozygous male is cryopreserved, the mice produced following thawing will automatically be heterozygous, and crossings will be necessary if you wish to obtain homozygous mice.
The cost of this procedure includes the following:
- Guarantee of 18 straws of cryopreserved sperm
- Two-cell validation*
*A more complex validation (live pups) can be conducted upon request, but additional fees will apply. The “live pups” validation involves thawing a straw of cryopreserved sperm, performing in vitro fertilization, and then implanting the embryos produced into a pseudopregnant female.
For this procedure, you must provide a minimum of 10 to 30 males and 10 to 30 females (quantity may vary depending on the genetic background of the strain to be cryopreserved).
The procedure involves placing superovulated females in contact with males to collect embryos for cryopreservation. To ensure the viability of the frozen embryos, validation will be conducted. This involves thawing a straw of cryopreserved embryos and observing cell division upon incubation. If the development rate is adequate, the batch of embryos will be validated.
The cost of this procedure includes the following:
- Guarantee of 250 two-cell embryos, thus 10 straws of approximately 25 cryopreserved embryos each
- Validation* (verification of the viability of cryopreserved embryos in an incubator)
*A more complex validation (live pups) can be conducted upon request, but additional fees will apply. The “live pups” validation involves thawing a straw of cryopreserved sperm, performing in vitro fertilization, and then implanting the embryos produced into a pseudopregnant female.
For this procedure, you must provide either 2 males to obtain fresh sperm along with 20 to 25 females, or 2 straws of frozen sperm and 20 to 25 females.
The procedure involves collecting eggs from superovulated females to perform in vitro fertilization with fresh or frozen sperm. The resulting embryos will be cryopreserved. To ensure the viability of the frozen embryos, validation will be conducted. This involves thawing a straw of cryopreserved embryos and observing cell division upon incubation. If the development rate is adequate, the batch of embryos will be validated.
The cost of this procedure includes the following:
- Guarantee of 250 two-cell embryos, thus 10 straws of approximately 25 cryopreserved embryos each
- Validation* (verification of the viability of cryopreserved embryos in an incubator)
*A more complex validation (live pups) can be conducted upon request, but additional fees will apply. The “live pups” validation involves thawing a straw of cryopreserved sperm, performing in vitro fertilization, and then implanting the embryos produced into a pseudopregnant female.