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Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics

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01-08-2013 | Editor’s Commentary

A catalyst for change in reproductive science: John D. Biggers as a mentor’s mentor

Authors: David F. Albertini, Lynda K. McGinnis

Published in: Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics | Issue 8/2013

Excerpt

As we have done in the past, recognizing the true founders of reproductive medicine as we know it today is both an honor and responsibility that we provide to the JARG readership. In this issue of JARG, we take pride in honoring the lifelong achievements of Professor John D. Biggers on the occasion of his 90th birthday. For us personally, and for the many trainees and colleagues who have so generously contributed to this issue, assembling an appropriate tribute for Professor Biggers is a humbling task to say the least. Consider for example the wide-ranging career accomplishments that encompass, from the very beginning, over 60 years of a tireless, critical, and collegial unselfish commitment to so many that have conspired to make reproductive biology and medicine a prominent discipline in biomedical research today. We recognize him for the significance of his contributions to reproductive biology and medicine through the lens of a subset of scientists who have graciously made the following contributions. Hardly can a single journal issue or ASRM symposium achieve a thorough and balanced accounting of the ground-breaking and persistent influences Professor Biggers has had on so many. …

Biggers JD. Arbitrary partitions of prenatal life. Hum Reprod. 1990;5:1–6.PubMed

Ducibella T, Albertini DF, Anderson E, Biggers JD. The preimplantation mammalian embryo: characterization of intercellular junctions and their appearance during development. Dev Biol. 1975;45:231–50.PubMedCrossRef

Mulnard JG. Analyse microcinematographique du developpment de l’oeuf de souris du stage II au blastocyste. Arch Biol. 1967;79:107–38.

Ward MA, Kaneko T, Kusakabe H, Biggers JD, Whittingham DG, Yanagimachi R. Long-term preservation of mouse spermatozoa after freeze-drying and freezing without cryoprotection. Biol Reprod. 2003;69:2100–8.PubMedCrossRef

Biggers JD, Whitten WK, Whittingham DG. The culture of mouse embryos in vitro. In: Daniel JC, editor. Methods in mammalian embryology. San Francisco: Freeman Press; 1971. p. 86–116.

Borland RM, Biggers JD, Lechene CP, Taymor ML. Elemental composition of fluid in the human Fallopian tube. J Reprod Fertil. 1980;58:479–82.PubMedCrossRef

McLaren A, Biggers JD. Successful development and birth of mice cultivated in vitro as early embryos. Nature. 1958;182:877–8.PubMedCrossRef

Leese HJ, Biggers JD, Mroz EA, Lechene C. Nucleotides in a single mammalian ovum or preimplantation embryo. Anal Biochem. 1984;140:443–8.PubMedCrossRef

Lawitts J, Biggers JD. Culture of preimplantation embryos. 1993.

10.

Fritz HI, Cho WK, Biggers JD. Ovulation from whole ovaries of mice in organ culture. J Cell Biol. 1965;27. Abstract 31A.

11.

Boland NI, Gosden RG. Effects of epidermal growth factor on the growth and differentiation of cultured mouse ovarian follicles. J Reprod Fertil. 1994;101:369–74.PubMedCrossRef

12.

Boland NI, Humpherson PG, Leese HJ, Gosden RG. Pattern of lactate production and steroidogenesis during growth and maturation of mouse ovarian follicles in vitro. Biol Reprod. 1993;48:798–806.PubMedCrossRef

13.

Boland NI, Humpherson PG, Leese HJ, Gosden RG. The effect of glucose metabolism on murine follicle development and steroidogenesis in vitro. Hum Reprod. 1994;9:617–23.PubMed

14.

Boland NI, Humpherson PG, Leese HJ, Gosden RG. Characterization of follicular energy metabolism. Hum Reprod. 1994;9:604–9.PubMed

15.

Spears N, Boland NI, Murray AA, Gosden RG. Mouse oocytes derived from in vitro grown primary ovarian follicles are fertile. Hum Reprod. 1994;9:527–32.PubMed

16.

Johnson LD, Mattson BA, Albertini DF, Sehgal PK, Becker RA, Avis J, et al. Quality of oocytes from superovulated rhesus monkeys. Hum Reprod. 1991;6:623–31.PubMed

17.

Younis AI, Sehgal PK, Biggers JD. Fertilization and early embryology: antral follicle development and in-vitro maturation of oocytes from macaques stimulated with a single subcutaneous injection of pregnant mare’s serum gonadotrophin. Hum Reprod. 1994;9:2130–4.PubMed

18.

Younis AI, Sehgal PK, Biggers JD. Antral follicle development and in-vitro maturation of oocytes from macaques stimulated with a single subcutaneous injection of pregnant mare’s serum gonadotrophin. Hum Reprod. 1994;9:2130–4.PubMed

19.

Johnson LD, Albertini DF, McGinnis LK, Biggers JD. Chromatin organization, meiotic status and meiotic competence acquisition in mouse oocytes from cultured ovarian follicles. J Reprod Fertil. 1995;104:277–84.PubMedCrossRef

20.

Sicinski P, Donaher JL, Geng Y, Parker SB, Gardner H, Park MY, et al. Cyclin D2 is an FSH-responsive gene involved in gonadal cell proliferation and oncogenesis. Nature. 1996;384:470.PubMedCrossRef

21.

Younis AI, Toner M, Albertini DF, Biggers JD. Cryobiology of non-human primate oocytes. Hum Reprod. 1996;11:156–65.PubMedCrossRef

22.

Trad FS, Toner M, Biggers JD. Effects of cryoprotectants and ice-seeding temperature on intracellular freezing and survival of human oocytes. Hum Reprod. 1999;14:1569–77.PubMedCrossRef

23.

Palmieri SL, Peter W, Hess H, Scholer HR. Oct-4 transcription factor is differentially expressed in the mouse embryo during establishment of the first two extraembryonic cell lineages involved in implantation. Dev Biol. 1994;166:259–67.PubMedCrossRef

24.

Summers MC, Biggers JD. Chemically defined media and the culture of mammalian preimplantation embryos: historical perspective and current issues. Hum Reprod Update. 2003;9:557–82.PubMedCrossRef

25.

Kreidberg JA, Natoli TA, McGinnis LK, Donovan M, Biggers JD, Amstutz A. Coordinate action of Wt1 and a modifier gene supports embryonic survival in the oviduct. Mol Reprod Dev. 1999;52:366–75.PubMedCrossRef

26.

Donohoe ME, Zhang X, McGinnis LK, Biggers JD, Li E, Shi Y. Targeted disruption of mouse Yin Yang 1 transcription factor results in peri-implantation lethality. Mol Cell Biol. 1999;19:7237–44.PubMed

27.

Liu J, Lee GY, Lawitts JA, Toner M, Biggers JD. Technical note: mice produced by intracytoplasmic sperm injection using a modified conventional method. J Anim Sci 2012.

28.

Sherman JK. Freezing and freeze-drying of human spermatozoa. Fertil Steril. 1954;5:357–71.PubMed

29.

Sherman JK. Freezing and freeze-drying of bull spermatozoa. Am J Physiol. 1957;190:281–6.PubMed

30.

Chen T, Acker JP, Eroglu A, Cheley S, Bayley H, Fowler A, et al. Beneficial effect of intracellular trehalose on the membrane integrity of dried mammalian cells. Cryobiology. 2001;43:168–81.PubMedCrossRef

31.

Bhowmick S, Zhu L, McGinnis L, Lawitts J, Nath BD, Toner M, et al. Desiccation tolerance of spermatozoa dried at ambient temperature: production of fetal mice. Biol Reprod. 2003;68:1779–86.PubMedCrossRef

32.

McGinnis LK, Zhu L, Lawitts JA, Bhowmick S, Toner M, Biggers JD. Mouse sperm desiccated and stored in trehalose medium without freezing. Biol Reprod. 2005;73:627–33.PubMedCrossRef

33.

Li MW, Biggers JD, Elmoazzen HY, Toner M, McGinnis L, Lloyd KC. Long-term storage of mouse spermatozoa after evaporative drying. Reproduction. 2007;133:919–29.PubMedCrossRef

34.

Lechene CP, Lee GY, Poczatek JC, Toner M, Biggers JD. 3D multi-isotope imaging mass spectrometry reveals penetration of 18O-trehalose in mouse sperm nucleus. PLoS ONE. 2012;7:e42267.PubMedCrossRef

35.

Li MW, Baridon B, Trainor A, Djan E, Koehne A, Griffey SM, et al. Mutant mice derived by ICSI of evaporatively dried spermatozoa exhibit expected phenotype. Reproduction. 2012;143:449–53.PubMedCrossRef

36.

Elmoazzen HY, Lee GY, Li MW, McGinnis LK, Lloyd KC, Toner M, et al. Further optimization of mouse spermatozoa evaporative drying techniques. Cryobiology. 2009;59:113–5.PubMedCrossRef

37.

Hilberg R. The politics of memory: the journey of a holocaust historian. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, Inc; 1996.

38.

Conrad J. Heart of darkness. Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons; 1902.

39.

Kimura Y, Yanagimachi R. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection in the mouse. Biol Reprod. 1995;52:709–20.PubMedCrossRef

40.

Biggers JD. Changing physiological systems in the preimplantation embryo. In: Verlinsky Y, Kuliev A, editors. Preimplantation genetics. New York: Plenum Press; 1991. p. 25–35.CrossRef

41.

Biggers JD. Research in the canine block. Int J Dev Biol. 2001;45:469–76.PubMed

42.

Biggers JD. Walter Heape, FRS: a pioneer in reproductive biology. Centenary of his embryo transfer experiments. J Reprod Fertil. 1991;93:173–86.PubMedCrossRef

43.

Lawitts JA, Biggers JD. Optimization of mouse embryo culture media using simplex methods. J Reprod Fertil. 1991;91:543–56.PubMedCrossRef

Title: A catalyst for change in reproductive science: John D. Biggers as a mentor’s mentor
Authors: David F. Albertini
Lynda K. McGinnis
Publication date: 01-08-2013
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics / Issue 8/2013
Print ISSN: 1058-0468
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7330
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-013-0096-9

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A catalyst for change in reproductive science: John D. Biggers as a mentor’s mentor

Excerpt

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Excerpt

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