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SSC transplantation
The first successful SSC transplantation was described in mice in 1994 whereby the procedure restored spermatogenesis fully in an otherwise infertile mouse. These mice were then able to produce viable offspring which opened new exciting doors for future potential therapies in humans.

As cancer treatments are not cancer cell specific and are often gonadotoxic (toxic to the, prepubertal boys usually face infertility as a consequence of treatment as there is no established way to preserve their fertility yet. Infertility after cancer treatment depends on the type and dosage of treatment but can vary from 17% to 82% of patients . Spermatogonial stem cell therapy (SSCT) has been proposed as a potential method to restore fertility in such cancer survivors who desire to have children later in life. The method has been tested in numerous animal models including non-human primates; Hermann et al. took out and isolated SSCs from prepubertal and adult rhesus macaques before treating them with busulfan (an alkylating agent used in chemotherapy). SSCs were then injected back into the rete testis of the same animal that they were taken from ~10-12 weeks after treatment and spermatogenesis was observed in almost all recipients (16/17). However, these SSCs were difficult to detect which is why further analysis of the ability of descendant sperm to fertilise could not be determined. The viability of embryos fertilised by donor sperm after SSC transplantation needs to be evaluated to truly determine the usefulness of this technique.

Recently, SSC transplantation has also been proposed as a potential method for conservation of endangered species through xenogeneic transplantation. Roe et al. suggested that the reproductive lifespan of such species could be extended by transplanting their germ cells into a domestic host. In their study they used the quail as a model for an exotic species and transplanted SSCs into chicken embryos which successfully colonized the gonadal ridge of the host embryo. This allows the isolation of mature sperm later on in development from the host even after the donor has deceased which can be used in future fertilization and potentially more successful conservation.