Potential Life in a Petri Dish

TIME: Wednesday, 1:31 p.m.
LOCATION: Fertility Institute of Hawaii
PHOTOGRAPHER: David Croxford


Watching through a microscope,
Jamie Kim moves oocytes, female human egg cells, through a series of three dehydrating solutions.

Kim, senior embryologist at the Fertility Institute of Hawaii, says dehydration reduces the shock that cells experience when submerged into liquid nitrogen and instantly frozen. The rapid freezing virtually eliminates formation of ice crystals, which can damage the cells. The cells can be kept frozen indefinitely for later thawing and reproduction.

Categories: Parting Shot