EMBRYO in vitro IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

Abstract

This chapter describes embryo in vitro technique in animal husbandry. The increased interest in embryo in vitro in agriculture is due primarily to the development of embryotransfer techniques. For farm animals like the mare, the cow, and the ewe, a better method to increase the number of young ones from one female is the induction of superovulation followed by embryo collection and transfer to recipients. The time between collection and transfer is referred as the time of embryo in vitro. The extensiveness of applications of cultured embryos depends on the number of embryos that can be collected. The response to the hormonal induction of superovulation in farm animals is characterized by an excessive degree of variability. This has been identified as one of the limiting factors in the use of cultured embryos in animal husbandry. An alternative method to supply a large number of embryos depends upon the maturation and fertilization in vitro of oocytes obtained from the pool of growing follicles in qualified animals which are culled for unwanted reason. The feasibility of that system has already been demonstrated by the birth of lambs following the maturation in vitro of oocytes obtained from slaughtered sheep.