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Chapter 6 - Principles of Vitrification as a Method of Cryopreservation in Reproductive Biology and Medicine

from Section 2 - Reproductive Biology and Cryobiology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2021

By
Gregory M Fahy
Edited by
Jacques Donnez  and
S. Samuel Kim
Jacques Donnez
Affiliation:
Catholic University of Louvain, Brussels
S. Samuel Kim
Affiliation:
University of Kansas School of Medicine
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Summary

The popularity of vitrification (literally, glass formation) as a method of cryopreservation for reproductive cells, tissues, and even organs is evident from the rising number of citations of these applications in PubMed (Figure 6.1). The success of vitrification is based on the remarkable fact that it has been possible in many cases to reconcile the extreme physical and chemical requirements of vitrification with the biological requirements for sustaining life. Essentially, the same basic physical process that produces obsidian, window panes, porcelain vases, amber, and lollipops can be applied to living cells and tissues to preserve them in a viable state for very long periods.

The basic biological feasibility of vitrification was first discovered by nature. It now appears that many “poikilohydric” animals (whose water content depends on the ambient humidity) seem to survive the winter at deep subzero temperatures in the vitreous or partially vitreous state, and this strategy of survival may be even more prevalent than freeze tolerance [1, 2]. In addition, there are complex organisms that can dry to a vitreous state and survive even at temperatures well above zero [3, 4]. Therefore, cryopreservation by vitrification is supported by a broad base of biological evidence and evolutionary experience.

Type
Chapter
Information
Fertility Preservation
Principles and Practice
 , pp. 49 - 66
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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