Plate 11

Proposed procedure for the biobanking and recovery of amphibian diploid genomes using cryopreserved primordial germ cells (PGCs). Tissue explants containing PGCs are taken from the vegetal pole of the blastulae or from the abdominal region of the tail-bud of embryos that are cryopreserved in amphibian biobanks. These explants can be thawed when required and transplanted into either blastulae or tail bud of hosts’ embryos of the same species, or possibly even of different species. The PGCs are then taken up into the developing gonads of the host, resulting in the host producing either sperm or eggs of the original donor species upon sexual maturity. These could, in turn, generate progeny containing the genome of the donor individual through natural breeding of the host, despite the fact that the donor might have died many decades earlier.