DIASTORE · Diapause-mediated cattle embryo storage

Embryo transfer is a key enabling technology in the farming industry, playing an essential role in expanding genetic improvement and its associated economic and environmental benefits. The procedure requires estrous synchronized recipient animals, which are often not available at the same time and location than the embryos. The only solution available to circumvent this problem is to arrest embryo development by cryopreservation, a technique that allows embryo storage but reduces embryo viability and requires time, training and specialized equipment. Diapause is the natural way to temporarily arrest embryo development and it could provide an alternative means to store embryos before transfer. In this project we will employ an advanced embryo culture system developed by the project StG-757886-ELONGAN -able to sustain embryo development beyond blastocyst hatching- as a platform to test different media modifications to induce diapause in bovine embryos. The development of a diapause-inducing medium will constitute a better solution than cryopreservation, as it avoids the mechanical damage and exposure to cryoprotectants, circumvents the need of special equipment, and provides a faster and easier to learn protocol to store embryos.