AMPHICELL

Australia possesses a large diversity of frogs, with over 200 native species currently recognised. Greater than 30 Australian native frog species, however, are presently listed as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable; since 1979, four are considered extinct. The rate of native Australian frog loss is accelerating and as such there is an urgent need to develop methods to safeguard remaining species before they too become extinct. Animal husbandry has proven invaluable for protecting many threatened species, but can suffer from issues of spatial constraint and genetic loss through inbreeding. Amphibian sperm cryopreservation for in vitro fertilisation has been developed for several species, yet methods for cryopreserving amphibian oocytes do not exist, and numbers of cryopreserved gametes are finite, meaning that once used, they cannot be used again. An important complement to animal husbandry and germ cell cryopreservation, overcoming these shortfalls, is somatic cell..

Also known as: Amphicell Pty Ltd