ABSTRACT
We put forward this chapter with the hope that embryologists and clinicians searching for a cryopreservation approach to be implemented in their clinics will consider the fundamentals and current practices in vitrifi cation. Vitrifi cation, as an emerging approach to cryopreservation, is a subject of enormous interest and complexity, in particular in the context of preservation of embryos and oocytes. This approach has become a hope for improving the success rate of cryopreservation of oocytes, which is of particular importance for infertility treatments of young oncology patients and cases of temporary sperm defi ciency. Vitrifi cation produces amorphous solidifi cation of living cells and supporting solutions and completely avoids ice crystal formation during cooling intended for cryostorage. It is equally important that the vitrifi cation process completely avoids ice crystal formation in cryopreserved cells during warming to recover the cells for clinical applications (1).
