Spermatogonial stem cells: Current biotechnological advances in reproduction and regenerative medicine

Figure 1 Overview of biotechnologies involving spermatogonial stem cells. Fertility preservation includes fertility restoration in oncological patients after therapeutic agents are administered that produce germ cell damage, strategies for infertile male patients and reproduction of endangered species. Gene dissemination represents the possibility to use several low-genetics animals to disseminate elite genes in animal production operations. Culture involves maintenance, survival, expansion and possibly genetic manipulations of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs). Germ stem cells (GSCs), that is, SSCs that self-renew in vitro, therefore proliferating and expanding. Multipotent germ stem cells (mGSCs), which spontaneously appear in culture from within the SSC population, showing pluripotency properties[2].