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Sperm banks are the future of endangered species

Can science help save lynx, tigers or cheetahs? Professor Wojciech Niżański from the UPWr believes so. To this end his team is creating a sperm bank: they intend to freeze the reproductive cells of animals in order to save them from extinction in the future, thanks to in vitro methods.

Research is conducted at the Department of Reproduction and the Clinic for Farm Animals of the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences (UPWr), where the Wrocław Sperm Bank for Companion and Wild Animals operates.

Genetic material can survive for thousands of years

The first bank of Professor Wojciech Niżański was founded in 1997 (he stored sperm of genetically valuable purebred dogs in liquid nitrogen). Since 2019, it has been a canine, felid and bison sperm bank (the world's first bison sperm bank).

– Our andrological and endocrinological laboratories deal with the research, storage, freezing and distribution of sperm of various animal species. We collect male and female cells from zoo animals when they are anesthetised during other procedures or vaccinations. In a simple and non-traumatic way, we obtain sperm and egg cells and freeze them in liquid nitrogen – explains Professor Wojciech Niżański, adding that he and his team also pair male and female gametes in glass, obtaining cat embryos, and also freeze them in liquid nitrogen. Stored at -196°C, genetic material can survive for thousands of years!

In vitro methods are the future, also in the animal world

– We do not carry out embryo transfer at this stage. We are waiting until we are sure that our knowledge and experience will allow us to safely use this genetic material to obtain litters – explains Professor Niżański, who has no doubts that in vitro methods are the future, and will also be an alternative to natural methods in the animal world.

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Professor Agnieszka Partyka from the Department of Reproduction with the Clinic of Farm Animals at the sperm bank laboratory.
Photo: T. Lewandowski

– They guarantee us that if nature is unable to cope we will still have a chance to keep many species alive – he emphasizes.

Scientists from the Department of Reproduction with the Clinic of Farm Animals of the UPWr boast many successes in this area. In 2019 they performed the first successful and reported artificial insemination of a female cat in this part of Europe.

Artificial insemination of cats is an assisted reproductive technique that is rarely used – mainly due to the anatomy of the animal and the related technical difficulties. So successfully performing such a procedure ending in the birth of litter is considered a success. The Department of Reproduction with the Clinic of Farm Animals, and more specifically the Wrocław Sperm Bank for Companion and Wild Animals, boasts such a success.

Rescuing bison...

Felids are not the only endangered species that the team of Professor Niżański is working on saving. Together with the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, in cooperation with the Białowieża National Park, they are creating the first and only bison sperm bank in the world at the Kostrzyca Forest Gene Bank. The bank is financed by the Forest Fund, where a similar procedure of freezing the genetic material of bison is carried out. These studies are the result of cooperation with Professor Wanda Olech-Piasecka.

– Only a few males survived the First World War, which means that the European bison living today are closely related to each other. We fear that emerging diseases may decimate entire herds, since each individual animal will be susceptible to them. That is why we want to increase the biodiversity of bison to make them more resistant. When a male dies in the forest we collect material and determine with geneticists which sperm should be connected with which ova using in vitro, so that the embryos are genetically different and as little related as possible – says Professor Niżański.

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Dr. Sylwia Prochowska from the Department of Reproduction with the Clinic of Farm Animals specialises in the reproduction of felids.
Photo: T. Lewandowski

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03.12.2021
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