Progress on methods of gene detection in preimplantation embryos

The advent of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the development of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) have had a tremendous impact on preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). While PCR is a powerful tool in detecting genetic diseases or molecular markers affecting quantitative trait loci, the main use of FISH is screening for chromosomal aberrations. This presentation reviews the recent progress in preimplantation genetic diagnosis with an emphasis on bovine embryos. In particular the importance of biopsy size and strategies to avoid PCR contamination are discussed. Alternative DNA amplification and detection methods as well as methods to meet the challenge of multiple locus detection for marker assisted selection are presented.