Hi Kate

 

Good to see that interest in the use of reproductive techniques to increase genetic diversity is still being strongly mooted within the society. I agree ET is an important route but I have several reservations regarding intercontinental embryo shippment,

 

a) Shipping an embryo today will have exactly the same effect on diversity as waiting a couple of years and shipping the actual animalI  realise this,but he area that is in most difficulties is new Zealand,where they havealmost effectively 'lost their gene pool as there are currently no pure mares of breeding age left.To ship a pure into Oz or NZ at present day costs is inexcess of £12,000 (shipping alone and thats without the cost of the mare)

     i) Until equine embryo freezing techniques are improved, the best chance for embryo survival is chilled transport

    ii) Chilled transport adds layers of complexity in terms of paperwork and co-ordinating recipients / donors and transport arrangements relative to the time of embryo flushing - and all may be for nothing should no embryo be recovered at the appointed time.I understand alll this and I agree.Itsjust something that I feel that we need to persevere with over time. There is a nucleous of pures in Australia but too small to be letting many go. It is also still quite an expensive excercise to ship from Oz to NZ.(live) It may be that we are still ahead of our time.It certainly is something that is getting looked at within continents. Maybe International shipping will have to be sidelined until technology improves yet more.

 

b) Although extremely high profile, the cumulative costs of long-distance embryo shipment/transfer can easily exceed those of live animal shipping and the chances of establishing a successful pregnancy are much less than if the donor and recipient are together.Again I can see this. Can you give some guidance on the current UK cost, as it has been a couple of years sinceour project? It also seems more readily available in the USA, in that they seem to have specialist facilities with banks of mares available as surrogates, which we do not have as yet here.

 

As freezing techniques improve (and they are all the time) so embryo shipment will become a more useful proposition (as in cattle today) but for the moment I wouldn' have thought it the best use of resources.As things improve I would appreciate it if you could keep this group informed.

 

I tend to look on embryo transfer as a great method to increase the number of purebred births but artificial insemination is the key to increasing diversity - and its relatively easy, robust in transport and relatively cheap!!Total agreement, but as aforesaid it does not help NZ as they have no pure breeding mares at this time. They are excllent with AI, but can only produce partbreds.

 

I know of the considerable strides that the Society has made in freezing semen - but at the chalk face here - when I admit mares who need intensive breeding management I have the greatest difficulty in sourcing purebred Cleveland Bay chilled semen without compromising SPARKS advice. A little more effort at this level would reap great rewards.SPARKS as you know is only a guide ,but if there are avenues down which we should be going to improve the situation please let us know.

 

Sorry for the diatribe - I would love to hear others thoughtsI am sure that you will.Thank you for your timne in answering this I hope that it now opens debate

 

All best wishes

 

Caroline

________________________________________________________________________

Division of Equine Studie, Dept of Veterinary Clinical Science, University of Liverpool, Leahurst, Neston, Wirral, CH64 7TB

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From: ClevelandBayBreedGenetics@yahoogroups.com on behalf of rascalita2003
Sent: Thu 14/02/2008 13:23
To: ClevelandBayBreedGenetics@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ClevelandBayBreedGenetics] emryo transfer

Hi All
New Year Old topic thats needs updated views.
Embryo transfer has had much airing elsewhere of late and I do feel
that it is a topic best addressed within this group.
This will then enable those of us that are getting asked,to respond in
a better manner.
A new breeders group is starting to be put together and one of the
issues is the possibility of the flow of embryos between the
continents to improve the diversity of the available genetic bank.
Carolyn (Argo) as this is something that you and I have discussed
could you start the debate off?

regards

Kate

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