LAPAROSCOPY LAPAROTOMY OOCYTE RECOVERY AND JUVENILE BREEDING/

This paper reviews the status and use of laparoscopic and laparotomy o ocyte recovery technology with particular emphasis on domestic animals . The technology enables the recovery of oocytes from species and ages where it is not possible, or easy, to conduct recoveries through the vagina. it potentially has a powerful role in increasing genetic progr ess through in vitro production (IVP) of embryos from juveniles. Calve s can be induced to produce large numbers of follicles, but the recove red oocytes show variable development in vitro and in vivo compared wi th cow oocytes. Lambs can produce up to 180 mature oocytes which could result in up to 25 offspring from a single collection. Technology dev eloped in mature cattle gives similar numbers of oocytes to transvagin al recoveries (TVR) but, because the technique is more invasive than T VR, is less frequently used. Laparoscopic oocyte retrieval in sheep re sults in one to three good quality blastocysts and 1.5 lambs born per ewe aspirated. This level of performance is useful for producing offsp ring from infertile ewes but needs improvement before it replaces mult iple ovulation embryo transfer (MOET). Application of the technology t o other species is primarily dependent on developing efficient IVP pro cedures.