Historical Aspects of Equine Embryo Transfer

Early embryo transfer in equids was undertaken simultaneously in the early 1970s in Cambridge, England, and Kyoto, Japan. Both groups achieved limited success when flushing the uterine horn ipsilateral to the side of ovulation but the rates improved markedly when the whole uterus was flushed on realization of the continued movement of the embryo throughout the uterine lumen after day 6. Initial transfers of embryos to recipient mares were carried out surgically, but nonsurgical transfer via the cervix has been used subsequently with increasing success, culminating in pregnancy rates of 75%-90% today. Experimental use of embryo transfer in horses and donkeys demonstrated the unique ability of equids to carry to term a full range of interspecies hybrid conceptuses and extraspecies pregnancies created by embryo transfer. Furthermore, splitting of day 4-8 cell embryos and day 6 compact morulae allowed the creation of genetically identical twin foals. But despite these and other significant advances over the past 45 years, a persisting limitation is the relatively low embryo recovery rates from donor mares treated with exogenous gonadotropins in attempts to induce them to superovulate. This is due to the toughness of the ovarian tunica albuginea which forces ovulation through the ventrally situated ovulation fossa where multiple follicles compete with each other and luteinize before they can ovulate properly.