Repositories for aquatic germplasm are essential for safeguarding valuable genetic diversity for species relevant to aquaculture, biomedical research, and conservation. Development of aquatic germplasm repositories is impeded by a lack of standardization within laboratories and across the research community. Protocols for cryopreservation are often developed ad hoc and without close attention to variables, such as cell concentration, that strongly affect the success and reproducibility of cryopreservation. The wide dissemination and use of specialized tools and devices as open hardware can improve processing reliability and save costs. The automated concentration measurement and adjustment system (CMAS) was developed as a modular and open-technology approach to support standardization of cell concentration of germplasm samples prior to cryopreservation. For CMAS validation, linear regression models were obtained for estimation of aquatic sperm concentration >108 cells/mL and for algae concentration > (3x10E5) cells/mL. Algae were diluted with extender medium by an automated process, resulting in a dilution precision of ±12.6% and ±6.7% in two trials, attaining means of 89% and 71% of the target cell concentration. The development of the CMAS as open technology can provide opportunities for community-level standardization in cryopreservation of aquatic germplasm and can invite new users, makers, and developers into the open-technology community. This will increase the reach and capabilities of much-needed aquatic germplasm repositories. Details for the development, testing, assembling, and usage can be found in the open-access publication: Zuchowicz, N., Liu, Y., Monroe, W. T., & Tiersch, T. R. (2023). An automated modular open-technology device to measure and adjust concentration of aquatic sperm samples for cryopreservation. SLAS technology, 28(1), 43-52 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2472630322051858). The development process of this work can be found in Nik’s thesis (https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/5435/). This data set includes ‘stl’ files that can be used for 3D printing, and CAD modeling files that can be used for design modifications. These prototypes were developed by the Aquatic Germplasm and Genetic Resources Center (AGGRC) at the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center. Original design by Nik Zuchowicz, Yue Liu, W. Todd Monroe, and Terrence R. Tiersch. Nik is now a PhD student in Dr. John Bischof’s team at the University of Minnesota. This work was funded in part by the NIH Office of Research Infrastructure Program (ORIP) and Paul M. Angell Family Foundation. This device is part of a multi-year project to develop a series of open hardware to support development of standardized and reproducible tools for the research communities that use aquatic models to study human diseases. Please visit www.aggrc.com to learn more about our work. The mission of the AGGRC is to provide global leadership for development of germplasm repositories and commercialization of genetic resources for aquatic species through interdisciplinary collaboration. Rather than positioning the AGGRC as a central global repository, our approach is instead to develop technologies and practices and provide services necessary to empower the multiple and diverse communities within aquatic species to establish their own germplasm repositories. Currently most work directly addresses the pervasive lack of standardization and reproducibility that characterizes cryopreservation within aquatic species. These problems have slowed research through inefficiency and failure. Overall, although cryopreservation is possible at a research scale, it is not being utilized to near full potential for development of repositories or repository networks. The Center has 25+ years of experience working with numerous colleagues across hundreds of aquatic species and user communities addressing aquaculture, wild fisheries, conservation, and biomedical models. Based on this experience concerning the problems and opportunities for aquatic species, the AGGRC is organized across four core program areas that span user needs from research through industrial-scale application.

All Fusion 360 files can be found on our GitHub through the following link:

https://github.com/aggrc/Concentration-Measurement-and-Adjustment-System-CMAS-V1.0.0-for-Sperm-and-Particles