reproductive

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY:

Artificial Insemination: (aka: A.I.)
Artificial Insemination is the removal of semen from a male of a species then injected into a female, and was developed on cattle farms after World War II. The biggest areas for commercial A.I. are South America and Asia, and ONE FIFTH of all the world's pigs are artificially inseminated. A.I. is the least expensive off the four generations, but it also has the least "luck" with fertility.

Embryo Transfer:
Embryo transfer is the process of freezing and transporting an embryo from one female animal to another. It's more expensive (and thus less-used on farms) than A.I. but not only is it more fertile, but embryos can be frozen with a lot more luck than semen and so can be preserved longer and transported longer distances, such as cross-continent. A negative to this process is that a female "donor" can only produce, say, six embryos per treatment in cattle.

In Vitro Fertilization:
In vitro fertilization involves the extraction of an embryo and semen and then fertilization outside of the actual animal. The first successful IVF was preformed by Charles Thibault's research group on a rabbit in the 1960s. Some advantages of IVF are that embryos (or rather, oocytes, which eventually become embryos) can be collected from slaughterhouses in the case of livestock or from dead animals in the wild, both of which are very cost-efficient gathering methods. IVF can use either frozen or "fresh" embryos, although on average the "fresh" ones are more fertile.

Transgenesis:
Transgenesis is the transferring of genes between species by extracting a gene from one organism and injecting it into the embryo of another. This can give an organism a trait that allows it to survive or thrive in an otherwise-brutal environment, and then that organism will pass the gene on to all of its desencents. This could help perpetuate both genetic diversity and species survival.

Resources:

Thibier, Michael. "The Zootechnical Applications of Biotechnology in Animal Reproduction: Current      Methods and Perspectives." EDP Sciences, 2005.
     http://www.edpsciences.org/articles/rnd/pdf/2005/03/r5301.pdf?access=ok

Wikipedia.com: "Transgenic Plants." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgenic_plants

Mouse Transgenesis: http://we.vub.ac.be/~cege/leyns/transgenesis.html

In Vitro Fertilization: www.xlaevis.com/invitro.html

Georgia Reproductive Specialists: http://www.ivf.com/blastocyst.html

Obstetrics and Gynocology Department: http://www.evms.edu/obgyn/jones.html

Arabian Wildlife Organization:
     http://www.arabianwildlife.com/current/fr_zoo.html

http://www.xlaevis.com/invitro.html

http://we.vub.ac.be/~cege/leyns/transgenesis

http://www.ivf.com/blastocyst.html

http://www.evms.edu/obgyn/jones.html

Reproductive biology can be divided into four generations: artificial insemination, embryo transfer, embryo sexing/in vitro fertilization/cloning, and transgenesis. The field of reproductive biology can be applied to animal extinction because it allows scientists to assist in the breeding of wild, possibly endangered animals without forcing them into captivity. Following is a brief summary of the four generations.

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