Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Oct:54 Suppl 4:4-13.
doi: 10.1111/rda.13465.

Achievements and future perspectives of embryo transfer technology in pigs

Emilio A Martinez  1   2 , Cristina A Martinez  1   3 , Josep M Cambra  1   2 , Carolina Maside  1   2 , Xiomara Lucas  1   2 , Jose L Vazquez  1   2 , Juan Maria Vazquez  1   2 , Jordi Roca  1   2 , Heriberto Rodriguez-Martinez  3 , Maria Antonia Gil  1   2 , Inmaculada Parrilla  1   2 , Cristina Cuello  1   2
Affiliations
Free article
Review

Achievements and future perspectives of embryo transfer technology in pigs

Emilio A Martinez et al. Reprod Domest Anim. 2019 Oct.
Free article

Abstract

Commercial embryo transfer (ET) has unprecedented productive and economic implications for the pig sector. However, pig ET has been considered utopian for decades mainly because of the requirements of surgical techniques for embryo collection and embryo deposition into recipients, alongside challenges to preserve embryos. This situation has drastically changed in the last decade since the current technology allows non-surgical ET and short- and long-term embryo preservation. Here, we provide a brief review of the improvements in porcine ET achieved by our laboratory in the past 20 years. This review includes several aspects of non-surgical ET technology and different issues affecting ET programmes and embryo preservation systems. The future perspectives of ET technology are also considered. We will refer only to embryos produced in vivo since they are the only type of embryos with possible short-term use in pig production.

Keywords: embryo storage; embryo transfer; porcine; vitrification.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. AbdelHafez, F., Xu, J., Goldberg, J., & Desai, N. (2011). Vitrification in open and closed carriers at different cell stages: Assessment of embryo survival, development, DNA integrity and stability during vapor phase storage for transport. BMC Biotechnology, 11, 29. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6750-11-29
    1. Angel, M. A., Gil, M. A., Cuello, C., Sanchez-Osorio, J., Gomis, J., Parrilla, I., … Martinez, E. A. (2014a). The effects of superovulation of donor sows on ovarian response and embryo development after nonsurgical deep-uterine embryo transfer. Theriogenology, 81(6), 832-839. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.theriogenology.2013.12.017
    1. Angel, M. A., Gil, M. A., Cuello, C., Sanchez-Osorio, J., Gomis, J., Parrilla, I., … Martinez, E. A. (2014b). An Earlier Uterine Environment Favors the In Vivo Development of Fresh Pig Morulae and Blastocysts Transferred by a Nonsurgical Deep-uterine Method. Journal of Reproduction and Development, 60(5), 371-376. https://doi.org/10.1262/jrd.2014-022
    1. Beebe, L. F. S., Cameron, R. D. A., Blackshaw, A. W., & Keates, H. L. (2005). Changes to porcine blastocyst vitrification methods and improved litter size after transfer. Theriogenology, 64(4), 879-890. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.theriogenology.2004.12.014
    1. Berthelot, F., Martinat-Botté, F., Locatelli, A., Perreau, C., & Terqui, M. (2000). Piglets born after vitrification of embryos using the open pulled straw method. Cryobiology, 41(2), 116-124. https://doi.org/10.1006/cryo.2000.2273

LinkOut - more resources