Advanced assisted reproduction technologies (ART) in goats

Assisted reproduction technologies (ART) are reviewed with special emphasis on goat genetic improvement programs. Estrous synchronization and artificial insemination are the most commonly used ART worldwide because of their simplicity and excellent cost/benefit, especially when proven sires are used. Multiple ovulation and embryo transfer (MOET) has not become widely used due to its unpredictability. In vitro embryo production using oocytes collected by laparoscopy from valuable donors has the potential to improve the results obtained from MOET and expand its applications (for example, using prepubertal donors). However, the costs and inefficiencies of the system might restrict its use to special situations. Finally, transgenesis and cloning are expected to have a significant impact on the future genetic improvement of livestock. However, because of low efficiencies and high costs, their present use is restricted to applications with high returns such as the production of recombinant proteins of pharmaceutical and biomedical interest.