Meet The World’s First In Vitro Fertilization Puppies From Cornell University

Meet the World’s First In Vitro Fertilization Puppies. For the first time, a litter of puppies was born by in vitro fertilization, thanks to work by Cornell researchers.

“Since the mid-1970s, people have been trying to do this in a dog and have been unsuccessful,” said Alex Travis, associate professor of reproductive biology in the Baker Institute for Animal Health in Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

The first puppies born by in vitro fertilization (IVF) were delivered on July 10, 2015, at the Baker Institute for Animal Health, and Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. This advancement could help preserve endangered canid species and open new means for discovery in human and canine genetic diseases.

According to Cornell: Nineteen embryos were transferred to the host female dog, who gave birth to seven healthy puppies, two from a beagle mother and a cocker spaniel father, and five from two pairings of beagle fathers and mothers.

For successful in vitro fertilization, researchers must fertilize a mature egg with a sperm in a lab, to produce an embryo. They must then return the embryo into a host female at the right time in her reproductive cycle.

Read the full story about this scientific breakthrough: [Information from Cornell University]