In vitro fertilization

Information

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is a method of assisted reproduction, in which fresh or cryopreserved sperm is used to fertilize mature oocytes in a tissue culture dish, producing a large number of embryos in a short time.
The service is provided for revival of lines whose sperm has been cryopreserved into our own CryoBank or external ones. Additionally, it can be used as a rederivation method in case of males with fertility problems.

Cryopreserved sperm

If the cryopreserved line belongs to our Cryobank, 2-3 cryostraws of frozen sperm are thawed, and the collected sperm is used to fertilize oocytes collected from superovulated wild type females. In case that the investigator requires mutated female mice to be used, he has to provide the required amount of females at the age of 4 weeks old. The fertilized embryos are transferred into pseudopregnant female mice.

For lines to be imported, the Facility arranges all transfer details, receives the frozen sperm (minimum of 2 straws/vials) and performs the aforementioned procedure to revive the requested mouse line.

Fresh sperm

The investigator provides a minimum amount of 2-3 male mice in reproductive age. Sperm collected from sacrificed male mice is used to fertilize oocytes harvested from superovulated wild type females. In case that the investigator requires mutated female mice to be used, he has to provide the required amount of females at the age of 4 weeks old. The fertilized embryos are transferred into pseudopregnant female mice.

Upon births, we provide toe biopsies to the investigators for following screening. Another round is performed if no positive mice are produced in the first round.