Frontiers in Bioscience-Elite (FBE) is published by IMR Press from Volume 13 Issue 2 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.
While the idea of freezing human male gametes has been experimented since the late 1700's, it was not until 50 years ago that human sperm were frozen, and later thawed in such a way that they could fertilize an egg and initiate development. In the past several decades the technology of cryopreservation, or maintaining life in a frozen state, has advanced considerably. With the use of modern techniques, cryopreservation of sperm to preserve an individual's ability to reproduce has become successful, safe, and widely available. Freezing human male gametes has been tried since the late 1700's. However, it was not until 50 years ago that human sperm was successfully frozen in a way that retained its ability to fertilize an egg and initiate development. In the past several decades the technology of cryopreservation, or maintaining life in a frozen state, has advanced considerably preserving the ability of sperm to maintain its fertilizing potential.