We know that safeguarding your unique genetically engineered mouse colonies from unexpected events is a critical part of managing your research program. Charles River's mouse sperm cryopreservation service offers an affordable, convenient, and fast option for backing up many of your mouse lines. Our dedicated team of colony specialists will work with you to confirm that this service will meet your needs and provide you with a viable, permanent archive for your models.
Mouse sperm cryopreservation requires only two gene carrier males to complete and is typically done within one week of submitting your animals to Charles River. To ensure quality, we perform a pre-freeze sperm analysis to determine the baseline parameters for each line. This provides additional information on the natural fertility of the strain and helps further determine the suitability of sperm cryopreservation for the model. We also thaw one straw of frozen sperm and re-run the computerized sperm analysis to accurately measure the quality of the frozen stock. In order for the cryopreservation to be considered a success, the frozen stock must have a viability of no less than 30% of normal. For most strains, we typically see levels at 40% or higher. As further peace of mind for you, we guarantee recovery of any line cryopreserved by Charles River that meets our quality control measures.
