Does slow freezing still have a role in embryo cryopreservation?

In this lecture Dr. David Edgar asks if slow freezing still has a role in cryo preservation? Even though vitrification is becoming increasingly applied in ART, slow freezing has some advantages over vitrification, especially when handling large numbers of samples. Data published by Dr. Edgar's group has demonstrated that modifications to traditional slow freezing methodology for cleavage stage embryos based on physiological considerations can result in significantly higher proportions of surviving embryos and significantly higher proportions of surviving blastomeres, which demonstrates that the answers to the question above is yes.
Dr. Edgar works at the Reproductive Services/ Melbourne IVF, Royal Women's Hospital and Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Melbourne, Australia. This lecture was a part of the Vitrolife Satellite Symposium "Optimising the Success of Each and Every IVF Cycle"The symposium took place in London in July 2013.
For more information about Vitrolife, please visit our website at www.vitrolife.com/