Abstract
Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) are usually used in both human and veterinary medicine aiming the correction of heritable or acquired infertilities. The somatic cell nuclear transfer technique (SCNT) is of particular importance in veterinary as it enables the generation of genetically identical organisms, allowing the production of homogeneous genetically improved herds, and also serving as a model for reprogramming studies. However, the use of TRAs, SCNT in special, may be responsible for the increase of developmentalrelated abnormalities in the conceptuses. Such phenotypes are probably caused by a disruption in the epigenetic reprogramming due to the manipulation of gametes and embryos during the early development period, and therefore leading to disturbances in the epigenetic regulation of imprinted genes. The present review discusses how the epigenetic marks and expression of imprinted genes may influence the developmental competence of animals generated by SCNT or artificial insemination (AI). The understanding of the epigenetic mechanisms related to embryonic and fetal development, and in special, of those related to the epigenetic dynamics during genomic imprinting may contribute to the generation of efficient ARTs to be used in both regenerative medicine and animal production
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