Vitrification in ART: past, present, and future

Abstract

Invited talks of old scientists are standard parts of international meetings, just like opening ceremonies, selection of committees and cocktail parties. Typically, senior scientists and emeritus professors prepare seemingly important and scientifically correct lectures about the great pioneers and past achievements of a given discipline. In fact, these speeches are usually meaningless and extremely boring. Kind of polite acknowledgments of the past contribution of the old guy who is already unable to provide any news to the audience. Farewells, just before the obituary. I am not sure I can make it more interesting, but at least give it a try by focusing on negative events: controversies, fiascos, and absurdities that have hampered the advancement - some of them up till today. I will make efforts to be sincere and sharp; I apologize for the biased and close to sarcastic tone in some statements. I will also talk a lot about the human field, as the two areas are strongly related, and in fact, the in vivo experiences and achievements in humans vastly surpass those in domestic species in most countries. I will not go back to historical ages, just start with my personal experiences since 1990, although it may still seem to be medieval for most of the audience.