Tuesday 10 May 2022 07:05 PM Frozen testicular tissue still viable after TWO DECADES, find scientists in ... trends now
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Reimplanting cryogenically frozen testicle cells into infertile men could give them the ability to conceive again, a study suggests.
Scientists were able to kick-start the production of healthy sperm in infertile mice inserted with testicular tissue harvested 20 years earlier.
Previous research on monkeys had shown it was possible using cells frozen for months — but the latest study suggests long-term freezing is also viable.
The find could pave the way for a new type of treatment for pre-pubescent boys with cancer, who are often made infertile by powerful drugs used to treat the disease.
Adult men in the UK and US can pay to have their sperm frozen, but young boys who cannot produce functional sperm yet have little options to preserve their fertility.
In 2019, the first macaque was born using cryogenically preserved testis cells in an important breakthrough for getting human trials approved.
Reimplanting cryogenically frozen testicle cells into infertile men could give them the ability to conceive again, a study suggests (stock)
There are no mature sperm inside young boys' testicles but there are lots of 'sperm stem cells'. These cells produce sperm but only after puberty.
The latest study involved sperm stem cells that had been extracted from rodents.
They had been frozen for three different time periods — 23 years, up to four months and one day.
