A Visit to an Artificial Insemination Center Teaches Cryopreservation and Cryogenic Sperm Banking

a group photo in front of the artificial insemination center
The Cryogenic Sperm Banking team visited the Central Artificial Insemination Center for Livestock. Starting from the left, the group includes Shajjad Hossian (PhD student), Mohammad Matiur Rahman (Co-PI), Md. Rafiqul Islam Sarder (PI), Md. Shane Khoda (scientific officer of the Central Artificial Insemination Center for Livestock), Mohammed Jahangir Alam (PhD student), and Md. Abdur Razzak (PhD student). (All photos provided by Shajjad Hossian and Mohammed Jahangir Alam)

By Alaina Dismukes

The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish team which works with cryogenic sperm banking of Indian major carps and exotic carps in Bangladesh recently visited the Central Artificial Insemination Center for Livestock in Dhaka, under the Department of Livestock in the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock.

“In 2021, the artificial insemination center produced around 4 million straws that covered around 70% of the national requirement,” said Md. Rafiqul Islam Sarder, lead principal investigator of the project in Bangladesh. "Around 200 bulls of different origins are used to collect semen."

The central artificial insemination center distributes frozen semen to 22 districts along with liquid nitrogen and other materials needed for insemination, and artificial insemination technicians receive the straws from the distribution centers as needed to use them in artificial insemination at the farmer level.

“At the artificial insemination center, we observed the sperm cryopreservation and cryogenic sperm banking of bulls,” he said. “It is a big artificial insemination center from where frozen sperm are distributed all over the country. Our target was to see the cryopreservation activities as well as to understand the distribution channels.”

Md. Shane Khoda, scientific officer at the artificial insemination lab in Dhaka, presented on and demonstrated different cryopreservation techniques such as sperm quality examination, processing of sperm for cooling, handling the sperm post-thawing, and long-term storage. A straw containing frozen sperm was thawed and sperm quality was assessed using a photographic microscope.

“It is a huge establishment,” Sarder said. “Even though they work with different animals, we received ideas for our establishment of central and regional cryogenic sperm banks and development of nationwide networks for distribution of sperm. We plan to make recommendations to the government for the development of cryogenic sperm banks for fish to help continue this work even after the project is completed.”

a group photo inside the laboratory where semen is processed. Here Md. Abdur Razzak (PhD student), Mohammed Jahangir Alam (PhD student), Shajjad Hossian (PhD student), Md. Shane Khoda (scientific officer at the AI Center), Md. Rafiqul Islam Sarder (PI), Mohammad Matiur Rahman (Co-PI) (left to right)
The group toured the laboratory where the semen is processed. From the left, pictured are Md. Abdur Razzak (PhD student), Mohammed Jahangir Alam (PhD student), Shajjad Hossian (PhD student), Md. Shane Khoda, (scientific officer of the Central Artificial Insemination Center for Livestock), Md. Rafiqul Islam Sarder (PI), and Mohammad Matiur Rahman (Co-PI).
Here, Md. Shane Khoda is giving a presentation on semen processing, preservation, and distribution and also the economic aspects of artificial insemination.
Here, Md. Shane Khoda is giving a presentation on semen processing, preservation, and distribution as well as the economic aspects of artificial insemination.
In this photo, Md. Shane Khoda is filling the diluted semen in straws, sealing, and then labeling them through an automatic machine.
In this photo, Md. Shane Khoda is filling the diluted semen in straws, sealing, and then labeling them through an automatic machine.
Equilibration of straw-filled semen in a cooling chamber before freezing
Here, equilibration of straw-filled semen is taking place in a cooling chamber before freezing.

 Published April 22, 2022