In Vitro Fertilization
IVF is the process in which the fertilization of oocytes and early embryonic development occur in a laboratory.
IVF is one of the major tools today for optimize the propagation of genetics of superior animals and has been standing out year after year at the forefront of the most effective techniques for increasing productivity and financial returns in dairy and beef farms.
Fortgen is a leader in bovine IVF in the Northeast and a national leader in IVF for sheep and goats.
Advantages of IVF in Cattle
- Intensifies the use of females with high genetic merit
- Enables the widespread use of sexed semen, overcoming limitations related to low fertility and low pregnancy rates
- Optimizes the use of semen from renowned bulls, as a single dose of semen can result in the generation of dozens of pregnancies and births
- Enables the creation of animals with defined crossbreeding/blood grade, facilitating replacement with the desired blood grade and sex, such as projects for the Girolando and Guzolando breeds
- Enables continued exploration of the genetics of aged and pre-pubescent animals
- Facilitates the production of high genetic sires in beef herds
- For dairy herds, improves traits such as milk production, longevity and hardiness
- For beef cattle herds, it improves traits such as weight gain, yield and carcass finish
Advantages of IVF in Sheep and Goats
- It can be performed once a month, resulting in greater embryo production over time.
- It can be used in females that fail in the conventional ET process due to adhesions, advanced age, and/or lack of response to the hormonal protocol.
- It is a less invasive process that leads to fewer adhesions, resulting in greater reproductive longevity of the donors.
- Cost savings when using rare and/or expensive semen, as a single dose can be used for IVF across multiple donors.
- Possibility of using different rams in the IVF of the same female.
- Significant reduction in the cost of hormonal protocols.
- Possibility of eliminating the use of FSH in donor preparation.
How IVF is performed
IVF embryos can be frozen using the DT (direct transfer) method or vitrification technology, allowing for indefinite storage. Fortgen operates both freezing systems.
Advantage of DT Freezing
- Versatile technique that facilitates embryo transfer after thawing.
- Greater practicality, speed, and efficiency in the field, especially for work with small groups of recipients.
Advantages of Vitrification
- It consists of an ultra-rapid freezing method that minimizes ice crystal formation, preserving embryo quality as much as possible after devitrification. It provides greater stability and predictability in pregnancy rates.
How IVF is performed
Oocytes are collected from elite females and taken to the laboratory, where they undergo the fertilization process. The selected semen is deposited and incubated with the oocytes. After fertilization, embryonic development begins. These steps are performed in a laboratory, i.e., in vitro.
Subsequently, the embryos are taken to the field where, through the embryo transfer (ET) process, they are deposited into the uterus of recipient females (fresh transfer) or frozen.
