Knowledge-Based Firm in Iran Produces Embryos from High-Yielding Cows
“High-yielding cows are imported to Iran from the European countries and they are then fertilized with high-fertile sperms, in a laboratory environment, and it takes ten days to transfer the embryos to livestock farms,” Mostafa Pournour Ali, a member of the knowledge-based company, told ANA.
“By using this method, we can get four embryos from a female cow in a month,” he added.
"High-yielding cows are premium breeds that can reduce production costs by 20% to 30% compared to other cows by producing more milk and meat,” Pournour Ali explained.
He added that embryo modification was carried out with the sperm received from bulls, which was time-consuming and lasted for four generations, noting that the new technology makes modification possible in the first generation.
“Also, this method can be used for the revival of the endangered species,” Pournour Ali said.
In a relevant development in May, an Iranian researcher had also used nanotechnology to present a solution to improve fertility in the sheep flock.
“In order to preserve native livestock and prevent the extinction of these valuable genetic resources, it is necessary to dedicate a part to our research in the field of applying the best methods of preserving and transferring these genes to future generations. In the meantime, sperm preservation methods should improve to attain this goal,” said Mahdiyeh Mehdipour, the manager of the project.
She added that fertilization of a large number of ewes by using sperm of superior breed rams, reducing the costs of maintaining rams, creating gene pools, easy transfer of semen from production centers to the most distant places, ensuring the survival of unique rams and preventing the extinction of superior breeds are the basic applications of the rams' sperm freezing process, noting, “In this project, we used nanotechnology which ensures that the desired substance enters the sperm optimally and slowly, and as a result, the stress caused by the sudden entry of the substance into the environment and finally sperm shock is avoided. On the other hand, in this research, rosiglitazone is used to preserve sperm in a refrigerated form, which has shown very strong protective effects in protection of sperm in various researches.”
“This project helps to achieve appropriate technologies to improve reproduction efficiency and the use of candidate genes effective on performance in sheep, goats, and native cattle of Iran,” Mehdipour said.
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