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Abstract
Many species of mammals are threatened or endangered. Methods of assisted reproduction
that are being used with increasing frequency to produce offspring of domestic animals
and humans are often viewed as offering innovative ways to reproduce non-domestic
species as well. Uncounted millions of live young of domestic or laboratory species
have been produced from gametes and embryos stored at -70 degrees C or below, sometimes
for as long as 25 to 35 yrs. Such methods of cryopreservation are now being applied
with increasing frequency and urgency to preserve gametes and embryos of non-domestic
and threatened species to establish "genome resource banks" or "frozen zoos." But
levels of success to produce live young from such cryopreserved gametes or embryos
vary considerably from species to species, as well as from individual to individual.
It is sometimes thought that differences among species in fundamental characteristics
of their gametes may determine the efficacy of cryopreservation and the production
of live young. However, it may not be that ineffective cryopreservation is responsible
for low success rates. Rather, the limiting factor may be insufficient information
and knowledge of the most basic reproductive biology of such non-domestic species.
Even standard methods of cryopreservation may be completely adequate to act as a "temporary"
expedient to preserve germplasm of non-domestic species to permit time to acquire
a fuller understanding of the biology and behavior of non-domestic species.