Photo credit: Samart Detsathit (Thailand) – Description: Samart Detsathit and Abdel Rahman El Gamal

The photos were taken during a training program on the “Germ cell transplantation” that was conducted at Oizumi station, Japan. This technique has been developed by Japanese researchers led by Dr. Goro Yoshizaki at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology.

The technology could be briefed in the extraction of the primordial germ cells (called spermatogonia) from “masu salmon” (Oncorhynchus masou) and implant it into the hatchlings of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Depending on the gender of the receipt fish (rainbow trout), the germ cells develop to either fully functioning sperm or egg cells and hence trout broodstock turn into “surrogate parents” for the masu salmon. When the sperm and eggs of treated rainbow trout are combined in vitro fertilization, salmon hatchlings are produced. One of the photos shows the transplantation process into a trout hatchling which acts as recipient fish; another photo shows the transplantation needle that is prepared from a glass capillary and sharped to optimum size. This advanced technology has potential applications in aquaculture as well as in preserving endangered species.