While it has been known for a long time that various types of tissues
and organisms can withstand freezing and are even preserved by freezing,
the first attempts at freezing sperm cells were made before the turn of
the century. In 1897, Davenport[1][B] found that human sperm would
withstand freezing. For thirty to forty years after that, little
attention was paid to freezing as a possible means of preserving semen.
An excellent review of the early attempts to freeze sperm has been
assembled by Polge and Parkes.[2] These investigators also gave a good
account of their work at the British National Institute of Medical
Research in London, where in 1949 they demonstrated that glycerol would
protect fowl sperm so that it would survive freezing. The next year they
found that bull sperm and the sperm of several other species were
protected by glycerol during freezing. During the same year, Emmens and
Blackshaw[3] showed that ram and bull sperm would survive freezing. In
1951 frozen semen was used to produce a calf in England and a lamb in
Australia.
[B] These numbers refer to literature citations on page 38.
The highlights in the development of frozen semen have been covered by
other reviews and reports. Interested persons will find the articles of
Polge and Parkes[2] and Smith[4] especially good on the early history
and theoretical aspects of freezing sperm. Later progress on the
freezing procedure has been reviewed and covered in a number of detailed
reports.[5],[6],[7] Many items not covered in those articles have been
assembled here.