Two test tube foals have been born as the result of a
3-year collaboration between researchers at the University of
Liverpool, the University of Surrey and Twemlows Stud Farm. The aim of
the project was to develop advanced breeding techniques not currently
available in the United Kingdom.
Two different advanced breeding techniques were used: oocyte transfer and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).
Niamh
Lewis, a veterinarian researcher at the University of Liverpool, who
managed the project said: "These are complex methods which are currently
offered by only a very few centres worldwide. The ability to perform
these techniques reliably offers new hope to help overcome various
fertility issues in stallions and also provides opportunities to create
offspring from valuable mares who have died unexpectedly or cannot
conceive in their own right."
