Advances in in vitro production of pig embryos

A series of integrated, effective techniques is required to produce pig embryos from follicular oocytes in vitro. The failure to form a male pronucleus and polyspermy have been serious problems in efforts to produce embryos efficiently in vitro from pig oocytes. The former problem is now considered to be due to oxidative stress and the latter has been partially solved by reducing the number of capacitated spermatozoa reaching the oocytes. By the use of new technology for in vitro production of embryos, an acceptable rate of blastocyst formation and the birth of live piglets has been achieved. However, even with the use of these improved in vitro maturation (IVM) and fertilization (IVF) conditions, the efficiency of production of in vitro blastocysts and offspring still remains relatively low. More recently the developmental competence of embryos matured and fertilized in vitro has been investigated through modification of culture conditions of oocytes during the germinal vesicle stage. Oocyte competence for early embryonic development appears to be achieved by active communication between the oocyte and follicular cells. Since the ovarian oocytes available for IVM are primarily those present in mid-size antral follicles of prepubertal gilts, more research is needed to gain an improved understanding of the culture conditions required to induce developmental competence in oocytes from both preantral and antral follicles as well as additional modifications in IVF systems to overcome the problem of polyspermic penetration.