Artificial Activation of Murine Oocytes Using Strontium to Derive Haploid and Diploid Parthenotes

Parthenogenesis is a common reproductive strategy among lower animals that involves the development of an embryo from an oocyte, without any contribution from spermatozoon. This phenomenon does not occur naturally in placental mammals. However, the mammalian oocytes can be artificially activated in vitro using mechanical, electrical, and chemical stimuli which can develop up to the blastocyst stage. In this chapter, we describe the protocol for generating haploid and diploid parthenotes from mouse oocytes using strontium as the activating agent under in vitro conditions.