A new CASA system for East Africa, Tanzania, for the National Artificial Insemination Centre: A unique situation! Fig. 1: Entrance to NAIC with administrative quarters and laboratories. In Tanzania and elsewhere in Africa there is a great need to improve the quality of livestock in general and particulalrly cattle such [...]
Human zero sperm count in the next generation: Really? What are the facts? The aspect of declining sperm count has been debated over many decades and is very controversial. Recently Dr Haqgai Levine presented a paper at the 13th International Symposium on Spermatology in Stockholm that sperm numbers are declining and represent [...]
Sperm Class Analyzer ensures standardization and improves documentation in the world’s largest sperm bank Cryos The market for human sperm has rapidly increased during the last decade – especially due to the acceptance of solo motherhood and homosexual couples with the desire to become parents. As one of the market leaders, Cryos [...]
Did you know that genetic suppliers in the pig business are responsible for a large part of the result? An enormous important link at the start of the chain, together with the AI station. As a pig farmer, it is therefore interesting to invest in this in order to be able to [...]
Three participants at XIII International Symposium on Spermatology explain to us their thoughts on the event: Prof Gerhard van der Horst, Prof Stefan du Plessis and Dr Liana Maree. Representing your country and institution at any international conference is always a great honour, but with that also comes a [...]
Not Easter bunnies or hares, but rabbit reproduction and sperm Fig. 1: Captive bred rabbits There is a new focus on rabbits in terms of their so called prolific breeding rate, huge demand for rabbit meat production globally, but also ethical issues in terms of animal experimentation in medical research. [...]
Sperm analysis of West Indian manatee by University of Florida Aquatic Animal Health Program team using SCA® CASA System Fig. 1: West Indian manatee from Florida. Modified from National Geographic. The West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus spp.) is a large herbivorous mammalian species (average length 3 meter and weight 500 [...]
Tricks for optimizing the analysis of sperms with the SCA 1. The presence of bubbles inside the counting chamber may alter the results obtained by your SCA. This occurs when: a) Non-optimal counting chambers are used for automatic analysis. b) The counting chamber is not filled in correctly. - Micropipettes [...]
Not of Mice and Men but Rat sperm morphology quantified In a previous Microptic blog in 2015, we reported on the SCA TOX system of Microptic and its uses in reproductive toxicology testing. It was further indicated that tailor made modules exist for sperm motility, vitality, fragmentation and that in principle it [...]
Better sperm motility and kinematics after short vs. long ejaculatory abstinence It has long been observed that semen volume, sperm concentration and total sperm counts increase with increasing duration of abstinence; However, recent studies suggest that there is a paradoxical improvement of sperm motility and kinematic parameters with shorter abstinence periods. [...]
