Academic literature on the topic 'Gene banking'

National animal gene banks that are responsible for conserving livestock, poultry, and aquatic genetic resources need to be capable of utilizing a broad array of cryotechnologies coupled with assisted reproductive technologies to reconstitute either specific animals or populations/breeds as needed. This capability is predicated upon having sufficient genetic diversity (usually encapsulated by number of animals in the collection), units of germplasm or tissues, and the ability to reconstitute animals. While the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO 2012, 2023) developed a set of guidelines for gene banks on these matters, those guidelines do not consider applications and utilization of newer technologies (e.g., primordial germ cells, cloning from somatic cells, embryo transfer, IVF, sex-sorted semen), which can radically change how gene banks collect, store, and utilize genetic resources. This paper reviews the current status of using newer technologies, explores how gene banks might make such technologies part of their routine operations, and illustrates how combining newer assisted reproductive technologies with older approaches enables populations to be reconstituted more efficiently.

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have been broadly studied for several years due to their outstanding regenerative potential. Moreover, these cells might be a valuable source of genetic information for the preservation of endangered animal species. However, a controversy regarding their characterization still exists. The aim of this study was to isolate and compare the rabbit peripheral blood- and bone marrow-derived EPCs with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in terms of their phenotype and morphology that could be affected by the passage number or cryopreservation as well as to assess their possible neuro-differentiation potential. Briefly, cells were isolated and cultured under standard endothelial conditions until passage 3. The morphological changes during the culture were monitored and each passage was analyzed for the typical phenotype using flow cytometry, quantitative real–time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and novel digital droplet PCR (ddPCR), and compared to HUVECs. The neurogenic differentiation was induced using a commercial kit. Rabbit cells were also cryopreserved for at least 3 months and then analyzed after thawing. According to the obtained results, both rabbit EPCs exhibit a spindle-shaped morphology and high proliferation rate. The both cell lines possess same stable phenotype: CD14−CD29+CD31−CD34−CD44+CD45−CD49f+CD73+CD90+CD105+CD133−CD146−CD166+VE-cadherin+VEGFR-2+SSEA-4+MSCA-1−vWF+eNOS+AcLDL+ALDH+vimentin+desmin+α-SMA+, slightly different from HUVECs. Moreover, both induced rabbit EPCs exhibit neuron-like morphological changes and expression of neuronal markers ENO2 and MAP2. In addition, cryopreserved rabbit cells maintained high viability (>85%) and endothelial phenotype after thawing. In conclusion, our findings suggest that cells expanded from the rabbit peripheral blood and bone marrow are of the endothelial origin with a stable marker expression and interesting proliferation and differentiation capacity.

J.P. Morgan is a global leader in financial services, offering solutions to the world’s most important corporations, governments and institutions in more than 100 countries. The paper mainly analyzes the leader of digital transformation in the banking industry by Grey Relation Analysis. J.P. Morgan is actively deploying advanced technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence to enhance its digital capabilities and promote the implementation of digital scenarios. We believe that the research into J.P. Morgan’s digital transformation has important reference significance for China’s banking institutions to accelerate digital transformation and build the core competitiveness of digital banks with technological innovation as the key gene.

Abstract Among the 2750 species of the Polish vascular flora, about 500 species are threatened with extinction and 430 of them are strictly protected by national law. The FlorNatur project for the ex situ conservation of the most endangered species was started in 2009. The aim of the project is to collect seeds of 61 species from 161 sites in eastern Poland and store them in the Seed Bank of the Polish Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden - Center for Biological Diversity Conservation in Warsaw- Powsin. A complementary program is being carried out by the Forestry Gene Bank at Kostrzyca in western Poland. Their task is to collect 58 species from 129 natural sites in the western part of Poland. To date, seeds of 31 species from 56 populations have been collected, tested and stored in liquid nitrogen.

Crop wild relatives, the progenitors and kin of domesticated crop species, promise breeders a potent weapon against climate change. Having evolved outside the pampered environs of farms, wild relatives tend to be more rugged to survive temperature, salt, floods, and drought—all the extremes characteristic of a warming planet. But who will benefit from re-wilded crops? What kinds of agricultural systems will they tend to support? And can wild relatives be protected before they are lost under pavement, desertification, and expanding industrial farms? In this essay, I explore different visions of conservation and use for crop wild relatives. With CWR valued at an estimated $115–120 billion to the global economy annually, many researchers suggest ancient germplasm can be harnessed to feed billions in a warming world. Others look more closely at ancient customs and farmer knowledge that have long promoted conservation of wild species within and around cultivated landscapes. By intentionally planting crops at field borders, farmers also perform “in vivo” breeding. I conclude that wild relatives hold much potential to reinfuse diversity into eroded crop gene pools, providing greater systemic resilience. But unless we consider who controls seeds, intellectual property, and wild and agricultural lands, CWR innovations will only prop up an agriculture that ultimately undercuts crop and wild relative renewal.

My dissertation traces the invention and development of a new form of banking, body banking. Today, the body bank as an institution that collects, stores, processes, and distributes a human body product is a taken-for-granted aspect of medicine in the United States. We donate to blood banks, we cherish sperm bank babies, and we contemplate many sorts of banks, including cord blood banks, gene banks, and egg banks. Such institutions have existed for the past century in the metaphorical shadow of financial banks, and like those better-studied banks have stirred considerable controversy. The driving question behind my dissertation is simply, why banks? How did we come to use “bank” to apply to bodies as well as to dollars? More intriguingly, what does this analogy show us and what is it hiding?

Dimensionnement d'une turbine hydraulique de type banki-mitchell. Etude de l'ecoulement en fluide parfait au travers de la roue. Puissance effective. Hauteur de chute. Application a des micro-centrales hydrauliques

Due to the increasing number of zebrafish (Danio rerio) mutant and transgenic lines, there is a high demand for assisted reproductive techniques to support facility management. Efficient zebrafish sperm cryopreservation is a pressing necessity to manage and preserve the valuable zebrafish genetic resources. Although zebrafish sperm cryopreservation was first attempted more than 30 years ago, protocols still lack standardization, which translates into high variability in post-thaw sperm quality and in vitro fertilization success. Therefore, the present thesis aims to improve the current methodologies used for zebrafish sperm cryopreservation and broodstock management towards the standardization of procedures in this species. The introductory context of the present thesis is approached in chapter 1. In this chapter the relevance of zebrafish model is discussed as well as this species sperm cryopreservation usefulness. The main factors affecting sperm quality and the application of reliable quality analysis are discussed in this chapter. The final objective of sperm cryopreservation is to obtain high quality offspring and therefore in vitro fertilization, early development and offspring quality analysis are important tools for the optimization of sperm cryopreservation methodologies. The current knowledge in sperm cryopreservation fundamentals is approached in this chapter, as well as the main advances and bottlenecks in zebrafish sperm cryopreservation. In chapter 2, the zebrafish sperm motility activation was assessed under different conditions of water temperature and conductivity. The environmental conditions present in the fertilization microenvironment are responsible for the mechanism of spermatozoa motility activation and metabolic modulation that influence the probability of fertilization success. Zebrafish is commonly reared at 28°C, but with variable water conductivity conditions among facilities. However, sperm motility analysis is routinely performed with distilled water at room temperature. We aimed to understand the effect of water temperature and conductivity on sperm motility and fertilization ability. Water at 28°C with lower water conductivity (0 and 700 μS/cm) improve sperm motility parameters. Standardization of the water conditions (of system water and activation médium used for motility analysis) among facilities is highly relevant to improve the reproducibility of sperm quality analysis and thus, to predict with higher accuracy fertilization ability. Successful cryopreservation depends on high quality sperm, which depends on the quality of breeders. Consequently, broodstock selection and management is a priority to improve sperm cryopreservation. The broodstock diet has a preponderant effect on gamete quality, particularly in phospholipids and antioxidants content which are known to promote spermatogenesis. Therefore, in chapter 3 we aimed to determine the effects of a tailor-made purified diet supplemented with phosphatidylcholine (PC) or phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) on the zebrafish reproductive performance, gamete quality and larval skeletal malformations. Both dietary supplementations with phospholipids improved sperm motility and eggs quality, however PC increased the incidence of skeletal malformations on the offspring, as previously observed in other teleosts. Although dietary phospholipids classes have a role in the ossification process of the vertebral column in teleosts, its mechanisms are still to be understood. Therefore, the development and use of a standardized diet for zebrafish broodstock is essential to reduce the variability of the reproductive performance among facilities. In chapter 4, the selection of optimal age and minimum sperm collection frequency was evaluated, since these factors are essential to obtain high quality samples. Our results indicate that young males (6-8 months) showed higher sperm quality and require a minimum of 14 days between sperm collections to recover sperm plasma membrane viability. An important bottleneck in cryopreservation is the liquid nitrogen requirement for storage. Therefore, it was established in chapter 5 a new cryopreservation method using an electric ultrafreezer (-150°C) as an alternative to liquid nitrogen, for the first time in a teleost species. This protocol reaches a fast cooling rate (-66°C/min) in one single step and yields higher sperm viability and DNA integrity in comparison to the traditional methods (-20°C/min in liquid nitrogen). The synergy obtained by the combination of cryoprotectants is a successful cryopreservation strategy that can be beneficial in the optimization of zebrafish sperm cryopreservation. Therefore, it was selected the most adequate cryoprotectant combination that generates offspring with normal skeletogenesis. Data show that 15% of DMF with 50 mM of bicine or 10% of egg yolk is beneficial for the quality of zebrafish offspring sired by cryopreserved sperm. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on skeletal development of zebrafish offspring sired by cryopreserved sperm performed with different extender compositions. Zebrafish is especially useful to investigate some of the most prominent human diseases such as diabetes. Among other consequences, diabetes (type I and II) causes disturbances in the male reproductive system, since glucose metabolism is an important event not only in spermatogenesis but also in mature spermatozoa metabolism. In chapter 6 we aimed to validate zebrafish as a useful model organism to investigate male reproductive dysfunctions mechanisms caused by type I diabetes. In this chapter, sperm cryopreservation was applied to a relevant zebrafish model of type I diabetes. The transgenic zebrafish under diabetic conditions shows higher levels of insulin a (insa), insulin receptor a (inra) and glucose carrier 2 (slc2a2) transcripts in spermatozoa when compared to the controls. This is because gametogenesis occurred under diabetic conditions, changing transcription in the germline. Consequently, spermatozoa carry the imprinted transcripts that will be transmitted during fertilization. Sperm quality (motility, viability and DNA integrity) was lower in the transgenic fish under (transient) diabetic state as observed in human and mouse model. Sperm cryopreservation affects sperm quality of fish both under diabetic and non-diabetic conditions. However, diabetic conditions were detrimental in sperm freezability, which can be explained by the lower initial sperm quality. In this chapter zebrafish was validated as a useful model organism to investigate male reproductive dysfunctions mechanisms caused by type I diabetes. Relevant differences between different zebrafish lines are evidenced in terms of sperm quality and susceptibility to damage, which suggests that it is an important factor to consider while establishing sperm cryopreservation protocols. This thesis offers new insights and a set of guidelines on breeder’s management and sperm cryopreservation to improve zebrafish husbandry practices. Keywords: Zebrafish, sperm quality, cryopreservation, ultrafreezer, sperm motility activation, diet, type I diabetes
O peixe zebra (Danio rerio) tornou-se inquestionavelmente num dos organismos modelo mais proeminentes da atualidade, devido às suas características favoráveis para investigação. O desenvolvimento de técnicas de edição genética e a sequenciação do genoma desta espécie possibilitou o desenvolvimento de milhares de linhas transgénicas e mutantes. Consequentemente, a gestão dos numerosos genótipos trouxe desafios na manutenção de espaço e gestão destes recursos genéticos. A criopreservação de sémen é uma ferramenta valiosa para a gestão destes valiosos recursos genéticos, que pode solucionar este problema. No entanto, apesar do primeiro protocolo de criopreservação de sémen de peixe zebra ter sido desenvolvido há mais de 30 anos, ainda requer otimização e estandardização. Consequentemente, existe elevada variabilidade na qualidade do sémen e sucesso da fertilização in vitro entre biotérios. O desenvolvimento de uma técnica de criopreservação de sémen eficiente é atualmente um dos maiores desafios da comunidade de peixe zebra. O objetivo principal da presente tese foi a otimização das técnicas de gestão de reprodutores e criopreservação de sémen de peixe zebra, no sentido da estandardização das práticas e maior reprodutibilidade dos resultados científicos nesta espécie. A introdução ao contexto da presente tese é abordada no capítulo 1. Neste capitulo a importância do peixe zebra como organismo modelo é abordado assim como a utilidade da criopreservação do sémen nesta espécie. Os factores que afetam a qualidade do sémen assim como a aplicação de análises de qualidade robustas são discutidos neste capítulo. O objetivo final da criopreservação de sémen é a produção de progenia com elevada qualidade. Consequentemente, neste capítulo a fertilização in vitro, o desenvolvimento emb rionário e a análise da qualidade da progenia é discutida. Neste capítulo são explorados os fundamentos de criobiologia, principais avanços e dificuldades no desenvolvimento de protocolos de criopreservação de sémen de peixe zebra. As condições do ambiente de fertilização são responsáveis pela ativação da mobilidade dos espermatozóides e pela modulação do seu metabolismo, afetando consequentemente o sucesso da fertilização. O peixe zebra é estabulado a 28°C com parâmetros de condutividade da água variáveis entre biotérios. No entanto, as análises de mobilidade espermática são realizadas rotineiramente com água destilada a temperatura ambiente. Consequentemente, no capítulo 2 o objetivo do nosso trabalho foi caracterizar o efeito da temperatura e condutividade da água na mobilidade de sémen de peixe zebra. Adicionalmente, foi estudado o efeito da condutividade da água no sucesso da fertilização. A água a 28°C e com baixa condutividade (0 e 700 μS/cm) melhorou os parâmetros de mobilidade. A estandardização das condições da água (dos sistemas de cultivo e do meio de ativação usado na análise da mobilidade) entre biotérios é essencial para a otimização das análises de qualidade, reprodutibilidade científica e maior precisão na estimação do potencial de sucesso de fertilização de uma amostra de sémen. O sucesso da criopreservação depende da qualidade do sémen que, por sua vez, depende da qualidade dos reprodutores. Consequentemente, a seleção e gestão de reprodutores é uma prioridade, de forma a assegurar o sucesso do método de criopreservação. Um dos factores mais importantes na gestão de reprodutores é a sua dieta. A nutrição dos reprodutores tem um importante efeito na qualidade dos gametas já que afeta a gametogénese, particularmente a composição da dieta em fosfolípidos e antioxidantes. O objetivo do capítulo 3 foi determinar o efeito de dietas purificadas suplementadas com fosfatidilcolina (PC) e fosfatidiletanolamina (PE). A suplementação em fosfolípidos melhorou a mobilidade do sémen; no entanto, a suplementação em PC provocou um aumento da incidência de malformações esqueléticas na progenia. Estes resultados estão de acordo com estudos de nutrição anteriores em teleosteos. O desenvolvimento e utilização de dietas estandardizadas nos reprodutores de peixe zebra é essencial para optimizar a performance reprodutiva e reduzir a variabilidade entre biotérios. A seleção da idade ótima dos machos e a frequência mínima adequada para recolha de sémen é essencial para obter amostras com elevada qualidade. No capítulo 4 foi determinado o efeito da idade e da frequência de extração na qualidade do sémen. O nosso estudo mostrou que machos jovens (6-8 meses) de peixe zebra revelam maior qualidade de sémen e necessitam de um mínimo de 14 dias de repouso para recuperarem a viabilidade da membrana plasmática dos espermatozóides. Uma das maiores desvantagens da criopreservação é a necessidade de azoto líquido para armazenamento de amostras. Considerando esta questão, foi desenvolvido no capítulo 5 o primeiro protocolo de criopreservação de sémen de teleósteos utilizando um ultracongelador (-150°C). Este protocolo é realizado num só passo, sem a utilização de azoto líquido, sendo as amostras criopreservadas a - 66°C/min. Este protocolo melhorou a viabilidade e integridade do ADN dos espermatozóides em comparação com o método convencional (-20°C/min armazenado em azoto líquido). A combinação de diferentes crioprotetores é uma estratégia de criopreservação com elevado sucesso. Consequentemente, um dos objetivos do nosso trabalho foi selecionar a combinação de crioprotetores mais adequada para o protocolo de criopreservação estabelecido anteriormente. Os resultados deste trabalho indicam que a utilização de 15% de DMF com 50 mM de bicina ou 10% de gema de ovo produzem sémen de elevada qualidade do sémen e maior sucesso em fertilizações in vitro, assegurando também o adequado desenvolvimento esquelético da progenia. Este foi o primeiro estudo de caracterização de malformações esqueléticas desenvolvidas na progenia de peixe zebra produzido com sémen criopreservado com diferentes composições de crioprotetores. O peixe zebra é particularmente útil na investigação de doenças humanas com elevada prevalência na população mundial tal como a diabetes. Entre outras complicações geradas por esta patologia, a diabetes tipo I e II afeta o sistema reprodutor masculino. Estas perturbações ocorrem devido à alteração do metabolismo da glucose, essencial durante a espermatogénese e no metabolismo dos espermatozóides. Comparando com outros modelos, o peixe zebra tem gerações mais curtas, consequentemente seria uma ferramenta útil para esta investigação. O objetivo do capítulo 6 foi validar o peixe zebra como organismo modelo para o estudo dos mecanismos de ação da diabetes tipo I pelos quais afetam o sistema reprodutor masculino. Tal como observado em humanos e no organismo modelo de diabetes roedor, a qualidade do sémen (mobilidade, viabilidade, integridade do ADN) é reduzida na estirpe transgénica sob estado transiente de diabetes tipo I em relação ao controlo. O sémen do modelo transgénico em estado diabético revela aumento dos níveis de transcriptos de insulina a (insa), receptor de insulina a (inra) assim como de um transportador especifico de glucose GLUT 2 (slc2a2). Este facto é devido a uma alteração dos níveis de transcrição destes genes na linha germinal durante a gametogénese. O sémen criopreservado de ambos os tratamentos (controlo e diabético) revelou um decréscimo na qualidade, tal como esperado. O tratamento diabético aumentou a susceptibilidade das células à criopreservação, o que se pode dever à sua qualidade seminal inicial inferior. Assim, evidenciamos neste modelo transgénico para a diabetes tipo I os mesmos efeitos na qualidade seminal observados em humanos e em rato, validando desta forma esta linha para a investigação dos efeitos desta doença no sistema reprodutor masculino. A presente tese propõe o estabelecimento de medidas de seleção e maneio de reprodutores e análise de qualidade seminal. Adicionalmente propomos um método inovador de criopreservação de sémen, prático e económico, através do uso de um ultracongelador. Verificou-se o impacto de diferentes combinações de crioprotectores na qualidade e na esqueletogénese da progénie gerada com sémen criopreservado. Resumindo, esta tese propõe procedimentos e metodologias para a gestão de reprodutores de peixe zebra relevantes para o estabelecimento de medidas de estandardização, promovendo desta forma a reprodutibilidade de metodologias científicas.
Patricia Diogo was the recipient of a doctoral grant SFRH/BD/97466/2013 from the FCT. This work was partly founded by the FCT and the European Commission (ERDF-COMPETE) through PEst-C/MAR/LA0015/2011 project and by the FCT through UID/Multi/04326/2019, and by project LARVAMIX-17925 funded by Portugal and by the European Union through FEDER, COMPETE 2020 and CRESC Algarve 2020, in the framework of Portugal 2020.

AbstractIn the 1970s, the number of accessions held in national and international seed and gene banks increased steadily. This growth, initially a source of pride, was recognised as a liability by the 1980s. Too many accessions lacked the basic information necessary for researchers to access and use samples knowledgably. Many gene banks came under scrutiny for poor management practices and several found themselves accused of mishandling a ‘global patrimony’ entrusted to their care. In this paper, I explore one response to these concerns that attracted attention from many in the germplasm conservation community: creating linked, standardised databases of collections. Calls for more and better data about accessions often emphasised that these data would make collections easier to use and therefore more valued. Here I take a close look at the early history of data collation and standardisation as a means of ‘rationalising’ collections, a motivation that was not advertised as prominently. This historical example shows the infrastructures developed to facilitate data exchange in the context of seed and gene banking to have been tied up with both mundane imperatives to cut costs and lofty goals of building political bridges—in addition to the often-repeated ambition of making plant breeding more efficient.

In a time of digital disruption, users are deciding how they want banks to respond and even exceed their expectations. Banks rushed to face-lift their front-end look and enable non-essential digital services without acknowledging users’ needs. This recent attitude has harmed a good digital banking experience, and consequently the adoption of e-banking. To have a clear vision of how banks can stand out in a digital transformation 634 e-banking users were interviewed from the generations’ X, Y, and Z. A qualitative analysis was conducted using Leximancer software, to determine similarities and differences in three generations’ attitudes toward digital banking. The findings highlighted nineteen concepts grouped into eight key themes, namely: transfers, availability, use, speed, information, price, complex(ity), and market. Digital bank users are concerned about price, speed of transfers, and product information, valuing the easy availability of services and operations in the financial market, with some constraints about the complexity of options used to manage their accounts and savings. While Gen X (older age) looks at digital banking mainly for the availability of services, Gen Y (middle age) takes more advantage of digital banking to explore the bank/financial market and perform operations anywhere, and Gen Z (younger age) simply for transfers. This study contributes to understanding the adoption of digital banking, allowing to propose a new conceptual map to explain e-banking usage and identifying what is more important for each Gen X, Y, and Z generation may adopt digital banking.

The cell membrane, composed primarily of proteins and lipids, is a selectively permeable lipid bilayer in the scale of 10 nm or so. Molecules permeating through cell membranes play critical roles in the applications of drug delivery, cell therapy, and cryopreservation. Cryopreservation and banking of cells, such as umbilical cord bloods, female eggs, etc., are critical to facilitate practical and effective in vitro fertilization (IVF). The determination of molecule transport properties of cells, such as water and cryoprotectants (CPAs), is indispensable for developing optimal conditions for cryopreserving them. On the other hand, injection of material of interests, such as sperms and DNA segments, to female eggs or blastocysts, so-called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) technique, are playing important roles on IVF and advanced gene knock-out. In this study, a novel micro-nano-fluidic system that allows perfusion and injection in nano-liter scale has been developed and fabricated by soft lithographic methods. A single cell in the microfluidic system is able to be trapped on site and then either be perfused by various solutions or injected with plain solutions or solutions with genetic materials. Our ongoing study will demonstrate that the micro-nano-fluidic system allows us to: 1) confine cells in a channel; 2) deliver drugs by perfusing the cell; 3) monitor osmotic behaviors of the cell by replacing its extracellular environment; and 4) perform ICSI with sperms or genetic materials.