Diluters or extenders for mammalian sperm processing and preservation

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The cryopreservation of bull semen represents one of the most important achievements in dairy farming after the introduction of artificial insemination. These two approaches have enabled the worldwide distribution and use of desired genetic lines at a reasonable cost. Canada represents <3% of the global economy but provides >20% of world bovine semen exports (~70 million dollars/annum). Egg yolk (EY) and milk are the most used protective agents to conserve sperm. EY and milk, being products of animal origin, represent a potential risk of contamination of semen. Thus, there is an urgent need of developing novel media free of products from animal origin to conserve semen. However, it is difficult to find replacement component for EY or milk because the mechanisms involved in sperm protection by EY and milk remain unclear. Our work has provided new insight into the mechanism of sperm protection by EY. We showed that seminal vesicles of all ungulates studied to