Animal reproduction biotechnology in Poland

Abstract

The key research areas of the Department are: in vitro production of embryos, embryo cryopreservation, animal transgenesis, cloning, cytometric semen sexing and evaluation. Research has been focused on the in vitro production of animal embryos, including the development of complex methods for oocyte maturation, fertilization and embryo culture. Moreover, experiments on long-term culturing of late preantral and early antral bovine ovarian follicles have been developed. Studies on the cloning of genetically modified pigs with "humanized" immunological systems have been undertaken. A cloned goat was produced from oocytes reconstructed with adult dermal fibroblast cells. The novel technique of rabbit chimeric cloning for the production of transgenic animals was applied; additionally, the recipient-donor-cell relationship in the preimplantation developmental competences of feline nuclear transfer embryos has been studied. Regarding transgenic animal projects, gene constructs containing growth hormone genes connected to the mMt promoter were used. Modifications of milk composition gene constructs with tissue-specific promoters were performed. Moreover, pigs for xenotransplantation and animal models of human vascular diseases have been produced. Over the last 15 years, our flow cytometry research group has focused its work on new methods for sperm quality assessment and sex regulation. In the 1970s, our team initiated studies on embryo cryopreservation. As a result of vitrification experiments, the world's first rabbits and sheep produced via the transfer of vitrified embryos were born. KEY WORDS: animal cloning, transgenesis, sex regulation, cryopreservationThe Department of Biotechnology of Animal Reproduction in the National Research Institute of Animal Production was founded in 1950 as one of the institutes of the Ministry of Agriculture. During the first years of its history, the Department focused on practical issues related to insemination of cattle and horses. Prof. Wladyslaw Bielanski (Fig.1), the first Head of the Department, emphasized the practical side of research. In the mid 1960s, the Central Bank of Bull Semen was created for breeding evaluation, microbiological control of stored semen, and import and export of frozen semen.Prof. Stefan Wierzbowski, who became the Head of the Department in 1968, continued this practical approach and focused on the improvement of artificial insemination methods for various animal species, the development of semen preservation and evaluation methods, and animal behaviour and andrology.During the second half of the 1970s, the scope of the research in the Department was broadened to include aspects of female reproductive biology. Research on superovulation, embryo transfer and cryopreservation for several species of mammals was Int. J. Dev. Biol. 52: 151-155 (2008)

Sheep as an Experimental Model for Human ART: Novel Insights on Phenotypic Alterations in ART‐Derived Sheep Conceptuses

“…However, if we exclude IVF, experimental (laboratory and farm) animal embryology has progressed at a much faster pace than human embryology, simply due to the much larger availability of gametes in these species. The intense research activity on embryo physiology and metabolism has led to several practical applications in farm and companion animal reproduction, such as robust systems for in vitro embryo production (Drost, 2007;Galli et al, 2003;Gil et al, 2010;Hinrichs, 2010;Pope et al, 2006;Ptak et al, 2002;Rodrigues and Rodrigues, 2006;Smorag et al, 2008), suitable protocols for cryopreservation of gametes and embryos (Abe et al, 2011;Dobrinsky, 2002;Mazur et al, 2008), sex determination and predetermination (Rath et al, 2009;Rattanasuk et al, 2011;Schenk et al, 2009), transgenic animal production (Piedrahita and Olby, 2011), and nuclear transfer of embryonic (Willadsen, 1986) and somatic cells .…”