REVIEW A RTICLE In vitro production of porcine embryos: current status, future perspectives and alternative applications

ABSTRACT The pig is considered to be a suitable source of cells and organs for xenotransplants, as well as a transgenic animal toproduce specific proteins, given the biological similarities it shares with human beings. However, the in vitro embryoproduction system in pigs is inefficient compared with those in other mammals, such as cattle or mice. Although numerousmodifications have been applied to improve the efficiency of in vitro embryo production systems in pigs, not much progresshas been made to overcome the problem of polyspermy, and low developmental ability due to insufficient cytoplasmicabilities of in vitro matured oocytes and improper culture conditions for the in vitro produced embryos. Recentachievements, such as the establishment of chemically defined medium and utilization of ‘zona hardening’ technique, havegained some success. However, further research for the reduction of polyspermy and detrimental effects of the culturesystems in pigs is still needed. Key words: in vitro culture