Vitrification of in vitro- and in vivo-produced bovine embryos for direct transfer
Abstract
The overall objective of my thesis research was to improve procedures for vitrifying bovine blastocysts so as to enable direct embryo transfer to the uterus. Blastocysts were produced using standard in vitro procedures in Experiments 1, 2, and 3. Procedures were done at room temperature, 22 ± 2 °C. Unless otherwise mentioned, all media were made in SynGro®. In Experiment 1, base media contained either 1) normal concentrations of sodium (120 mM) and calcium (2 mM);(CON) or 2) 60 mM sodium + 60 mM choline chloride and 0.5 mM calcium (LOW). Blastocysts were exposed to 5 M ethylene glycol ...