Main description:

Thanks to enormous scientific efforts of the last decades, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and in vitro production (IVP) have now been introduced successfully in the practice of human infertility treatment and cattle breeding programs. This comprehensive book allows us to bridge the knowledge from both biomedical and veterinary fields of research.
For the first time, studies concerning the human embryo as well as embryos from domestic species are brought together. The central theme of the book is "the assessment of mammalian embryo quality". In 15 chapters, written by well-known scientists, different aspects of the assessment of mammalian embryo quality are summarized. Non-invasive and invasive techniques to evaluate embryo quality are separated in two parts.
In addition the book is provided with appendices on practical aspects and, thus, the book should be present in each laboratory for IVF and IVP.

Contents:

List of contributors. Preface. Introduction: Only the best conceptus will do! But what does best mean? M.H. Johnson. 1. Human embryo morphology and developmental capacity; M. Alikani, et al. 2. Morphological evaluation of embryos in domestic species; S. Merton. 3. Metabolic markers of embryo viability; I. Donnay. 8. Biopsying and genotyping cattle embryos; E. Mullaart. 9. Multiphoton microscopy for imaging mammalian embryos; J.M. Squirrell. 10. Is the frequency of chromosome abnormalities influenced by in vitro techniques? D. Viuff, et al. 11. Differential staining of inner and outer cells to assess mammalian embryo quality; A. Van Soom, et al. 12. Apoptosis in mammalian embryos; K. Hardy, S. Spanos. 13. Electron microscopy of pre-hatching mammalian embryos: the ultra structure of cattle, swine and horse embryos; P. Maddox-Hyttell , M. Boerjan. 14. Differences in gene expression patterns related to origin of pre-implantation embryos; C.Wrenzycki, H. Niemann. 15. Protocol. Appendix I: The electron microscope; P. Maddox-Hyttel. Appendix II: Processing of eggs for transmission electron microscopy; P. Maddox-Hyttel. Appendix III: Human pre-implantation diagnosis pcr and RT-PCR; D. Taylor. Appendix IV: Human pre-implantation diagnosis fluorescence in site-hybridization (FISH) on individual blazoners; D. Taylor. Appendix V: Fluorescence in situ-hybridization (FISH) on metaphases in bovine embryos; D. Viuff. Appendix VI: Differential staining; A. Van Soom. Index. Colour plates.