Editorial RecentAdvancesinReproductiveTechnologiesdownloads.hindawi.com/journals/vmi/2011/915031.pdf · contraception. Rodriguez-Martinez & Wallgren review the new developments in

SAGE-Hindawi Access to ResearchVeterinary Medicine InternationalVolume 2011, Article ID 915031, 2 pagesdoi:10.4061/2011/915031

Editorial

Recent Advances in Reproductive Technologies

A. Honaramooz,1 S. Schlatt,2 K. Orwig,3 and N.-H. Kim4

1 Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5B42 Center for Reproductive Medicine and Andrology, University of Munster, Domagkstraße 11, 48149 Munster, Germany3 Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, Magee-Womens Research Institute,University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA

4 Department of Animal Sciences, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk 361-763, Republic of Korea

Correspondence should be addressed to A. Honaramooz, [email protected]

Received 20 January 2011; Accepted 20 January 2011

Copyright © 2011 A. Honaramooz et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons AttributionLicense, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properlycited.

Never before have there been so many medical interventionoptions available to infertile couples seeking to become par-ents. These options are possible largely due to the research inanimal reproduction which started several decades ago withthe widespread use of artificial insemination in farm animals.This was followed by the advent of in vitro embryo pro-duction/manipulation and transfer, cryopreservation, andthe development of reproductive cloning (that sparked anunprecedented interest in stem cell technology). In additionto advancing our ability to modify reproductive functionand changing our perception of what is possible, suchtechnologies have also greatly expanded our understandingof reproductive/gamete biology.

We have solicited research and review articles related tothe recently developed technologies in animal reproductionfor this special issue of the journal. The response wasoverwhelming and a number of exciting articles have beenselected for publication. Most of the accepted papers in thisissue are review papers (9 of 15) and the articles have beencontributed by researchers from a dozen different countries,reflecting its international scope. We are extremely gratefulto all the reviewers who took time to carefully read thesubmitted manuscripts and to provide critical commentswhich helped to ensure the high quality of this issue.

First few papers in this issue deal with sperm/semen.Morrell & Rodriguez-Martinez summarize the recent advan-ces in sperm selection and its application in reproductivebiotechnologies, including fractionated semen collection,cryopreservation, biomimetic sperm selection, sperm sexselection, and hyaluronic acid binding selection. Bansal &

Bilaspuri review the impacts of oxidative stress and reactiveoxygen species on sperm/semen function and highlight theemerging concept of utilizing oxidative stress as a tool forcontraception. Rodriguez-Martinez & Wallgren review thenew developments in cryopreservation of boar semen, aspecies from which the semen is known to be difficultto cryopreserve. Caballero et al. overview the importanceof sperm interaction with the male reproductive fluids toacquire the fertilization ability and highlight the role ofmembranous vesicles (epididymosomes and prostasomes)present in these fluids. The research article by Mollineau etal. presents the results of comparing a number of semenextenders and storage options on sperm motility of agouti,a neotropical edible rodent.

Next few papers in this special issue address the trans-plantation of gonadal tissue and cells. Honaramooz & Yangprovide a review of the salient recent research on germ celltransplantation in farm animals with emphasis on examina-tion of ways to increase its efficiency through improved prep-aration of the recipient testes as well as isolation, purification,preservation, and transgenesis of the donor germ cells. Thereview paper by Mota et al. highlights those aspects oftestis tissue xenografting that need further attention, namely,determinants of its outcome, preservation of the donortissue, and subsequent ART techniques to produce offspringfrom the recovered material from grafts. The research paperby Abbasi & Honaramooz presents the results of a studyaimed at improving the outcome of testis tissue xenograftingby comparing the effects of using different numbers of donortissue fragments to be grafted.

2 Veterinary Medicine International

In the next few papers in this issue, oocytes/follicleshave been discussed. Prentice & Anzar provide a reviewof the recent advances in cryopreservation of mammalianoocytes as a way to bank ova using slow freezing andvitrification. The research article by Presicce et al. presentsthe results of a study aimed at investigating the efficiency ofin vitro embryo production based on the source of oocytes(recovered by ovum pick-up), hormonal stimulation, andutilizing sexed bovine sperm. Andrade et al. present theirresearch results in which they tested the effects of culturemedia and supplements as well as fragments of culturedtissue on the ultrastructure of ovine primordial follicles.

The last few papers in this issue of the journal relate to avariety of subjects and techniques in reproduction. Monteiroet al. review the factors involved in nuclear reprogrammingand discuss in vitro manipulations that potentially reduceepigenetic errors and better mimic in vivo conditions forpreimplantation bovine embryos. The review article by deSa Fihho et al. summarizes the current hormonal treatmentprotocols, as well as other approaches, used to optimize thereproductive performance of beef cattle reared under tropicalenvironments. Buranaamnuay et al. provide their researchfindings on the comparison of two methods of artificialinsemination (intrauterine versus deep intrauterine) in sowsusing frozen-thawed boar semen on fertilization rate andnumber of embryos. The last paper in this issue is a researcharticle by Booth & Webb reporting on the effects of blockageof the vomeronasal organ ducts on serum concentrations ofLH in South African does while exposed to bucks (Whitteneffect).

A. HonaramoozS. SchlattK. Orwig

N.-H. Kim

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Editorial RecentAdvancesinReproductiveTechnologiesdownloads.hindawi.com/journals/vmi/2011/915031.pdf · contraception. Rodriguez-Martinez & Wallgren review the new developments in