The World's First IVF Puppies Now Five Months Old and 'Healthy'
In what could be one of the most spectacular breakthroughs in canine research, a litter of puppies have been born through in vitro fertilization (IVF), the results looking toward totally eradicating diseases found in dogs in the near future.
The process is not new to humanity ever since Louise Brown Oldham was born by IVF in 1978. However, this is the first time that researchers were able to create dogs through the procedure.
Associate professor of reproductive biology at the Baker Institute for Animal Health in Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine and co-author of the study, Alex Travis, said in a statement, "Since the mid-1970s, people have been trying to do [IVF] in a dog and have been unsuccessful."
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This time, though, seven puppies were successfully born in July through the procedure. 19 embryos were implanted in a female dog, the researchers said, with the eggs being left inside the oviduct for one more day than usual. It was then concluded that eggs that stay in the oviduct for an extra day had better chances of completing the fertilization stage.
Another process that they added in the usual cycle is the implanting of magnesium to the cell culture. The method proved to help the eggs go through the same conditions usually seen in the female canine reproductive system.
According to CNN, Travis explained that the two changes the team decided to make for the creation of the IVF puppies gave them "success in fertilization rates at 80 to 90%."
The seven puppies, bred from combined breeds of a beagle mother, cocker spaniel, and two sets of both beagle parents, are now five months old and are healthy.
The study is published in the journal Public Library of Science ONE, and gives the world a chance to not only cure certain breeds of dogs from various diseases but also give scientists in the human medicine field to further understand diseases that strike man.
This is because the canine community has over 350 similar disorders and traits with man that are inherited from parents. The figures are almost twice the number of diseases that other species of animals share with man.
