Introducing: BO-Freeze™
IVF Bioscience is excited to announce the launch of a NEW cryopreservation medium, BO-Freeze™, for the slow-freezing and Direct Transfer (DT) of in vitro produced (IVP) bovine embryos.
BO-Freeze is a ready to use medium for the cryopreservation of IVP bovine embryos, frozen via slow-freezing. IVF Bioscience have developed this exciting new product to provide the animal IVF market with a slow-freezing medium and accompanying protocol, which are specifically designed to be suitable for slow-freezing IVP embryos, achieving excellent cryosurvival rates and post-thaw viability.
BO-Freeze has been shown to significantly increase the cryosurvival rates and viability of bovine IVP blastocysts after thawing, compared to embryos also frozen via slow-freezing using an in-house control cryopreservation medium.
In addition to the improved survival rates, BO-Freeze is entirely free of animal derived components, such as bovine serum albumin (BSA) or serum, thus potentially reducing the regulatory burden associated with exporting cryopreserved animal embryos.
Why BO-Freeze?
The launch of BO-Freeze comes during an era of unprecedented growth in bovine IVP, and it has long been recognised that cryo-survivability, especially using slow-freezing methods, has been a limiting factor in outcomes. The introduction of this innovative medium could not have come at a better time.
It is widely accepted that vitrification of bovine IVF embryos produces great results in terms of cryosurvival and pregnancy rates. However, the practical difficulties associated with vitrification are also well known, thus the technique is not always convenient for the practitioner and / or suitable for the recipient facilities. For this reason, Direct Transfer on-site is the most commonly used technique.
Embryos frozen in BO-Freeze are suitable either for Direct Transfer to recipient animals or thawing in the IVF laboratory, for continued culture in our embryo culture medium, BO-IVC. Once thawed, embryos can be subsequently cultured for continued monitoring and observation, or for biopsy for genetic screening and / or sexing.
Slow-Freezing Product from IVF Bioscience
BO-Freeze is a medium for the cryopreservation of IVP bovine embryos, frozen via slow-freezing. IVF Bioscience have developed this exciting new product to provide the animal IVF market with a slow-freezing medium and protocol, which is specifically designed to be suitable for slow-freezing IVP embryos, achieving excellent cryosurvival rates and viability.
The product is ready to use and does not contain any animal components, thereby increasing the sanitary safety of embryos for export and transfer, and potentially reducing the regulatory burden.
Figure 1: Bovine IVF embryo survival rates 24 hours post-thaw. Bovine blastocysts were frozen in groups including early blastocysts, expanding blastocysts, and expanded blastocysts. N=69 embryos randomly assorted between test groups and slow-frozen following the same protocol, across several replicates. Significant difference (p=<0.05) between test groups is indicated by a (*).
During the Research and Development phase of BO-Freeze, the quantity of embryos surviving 24 hours post-thaw was significantly improved when frozen in BO-Freeze (p=<0.05), compared to the standard control medium (85% vs 68%, respectively).
*NEW* BO-Freeze Case Study
The trial was performed by Carolina Herrera in her IVF laboratory at Paladis GmbH, Switzerland. Bovine embryos, produced via IVF, were randomly assorted and frozen in the same conditions; in BO-Freeze and compared with another commercially available slow-freezing medium.
The embryos were assessed at regular intervals post-thaw, at which point blastocyst expansion and hatching rates were observed. BO-Freeze performed exceptionally well in these studies.
Embryos were randomly assorted and simultaneously frozen in the same freezer, across several replicate trials. 31 embryos were frozen per test group. The embryo expansion rate was assessed at 24 hours post-thaw. The hatching rate is defined as the number of empty zona pellucida (ZP) counted 48 hours after thawing.
“ I have been slow-freezing in vitro produced (IVP) bovine embryos in my laboratory using IVF Bioscience’s BO-Freeze medium. Since switching to this product, I have observed a tremendous increase in the number of expanded and hatched blastocysts achieved post-thaw. Not only were the cryosurvival rates better, but also the morphology of the embryos after thawing was notably improved in the BO-Freeze test group. ”
Carolina Herrera, MSc
Paladis GmbH, Switzerland
Figure 2: Comparative performance of BO-Freeze and a commercially available slow-freezing medium. Embryos were randomly assorted and simultaneously frozen in the same freezer, across several replicate trials. 31 embryos were frozen per group. Expansion rate was assessed at 24 hours post-thaw. The hatching rate is defined as the number of empty zona pellucida (ZP) counted 48 hours after thawing.
