Saving monkey testicle tissue before puberty hints at a new way to preserve fertility

The results give hope to one day helping young male cancer patients

rhesus macaque

BIRTHDAY GIRL Baby rhesus macaque Grady, shown here at her two-week checkup, was conceived via in vitro fertilization using sperm from a frozen, immature testicle tissue sample later grafted back onto the donor monkey. Grady, who has been developing normally, will celebrate her one-year birthday on April 16. 

A.P. Fayomi et al/Science 2019

A technique with the potential to preserve fertility for prepubescent boys stricken with cancer has passed a key test in experiments conducted in monkeys: the birth of a healthy infant.