Embryonix - Equine Breeding Technologies Australia

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The Future Of Equine Breeding Embryonix
Ph: 1300 488 688

Embryonix -Freezing, Implanting
and Storage of Equine Embryos

Embryo Freezing, Implanting and Storage.

Embryo Freezing will revolutionize equine breeding. It has huge advantages such as:

Breeding mares when it fits their training schedules and allow them to continue training and still have foals
Implanting previously frozen embryos early in September to obtain early August foals making them as mature as possible for their early aged events.
Protecting your mares Genetics.
Profiting from the sale of your mares genetics.
Obtaining foals from mares which are no longer alive.

Equine embryo freezing is performed differently to the freezing of human embryos. In humans oocytes (unfertilized eggs) are collected often in large numbers and these can either then be frozen or fertilised in the lab and then transferred back or kept frozen. While oocyte collection in horses is possible it is still in its very early stages. In horses the fertilisation occurs in the donor’s reproductive tract. Listed below are the procedures involved in freezing, transfer and storage of equine embryos.

Insemination of the
Donor Mare.

Depending on which stallion has been selected the mare can be bred either naturally, or with chilled or frozen semen. When using frozen semen we do not perform set time inseminations ie. treating a mare with Ovuplant and then inseminating 36 hours later regardless of her follicle. To maximize our conception rates we ultrasound the mare at least every 6 hours which means that all mares are scanned at 11pm and 5am; once ovulation is close we will scan every 1-2 hours which allows insemination very close to ovulation. This procedure is performed as if she was to carry the foal. The timing of the ovulation is monitored closely as this affects when the embryo retrieval is performed.

Embryo Retrieval and Freezing.

This involves flushing the uterus of the donor mare and examination of the fluid for the presence of a viable embryo. The fluid used is a bovine fetal serum medium warmed to 37ºC, this medium is infused into the uterus and then run out through a sterile single use micro-filter which collects the embryo. At the end of each flush the fluid retained by the micro-filter is examined under a microscope for the presence of an embryo. This procedure is repeated up to 6 times or until the number of embryos retrieved matches the number of ovulations.

Once obtained the embryo is cleaned in a separate bovine fetal serum extract and graded. It is then ready to be frozen. This is performed only on Day 6 ½ embryos which is when they are at the morulae or early blastocyst stage,so for this reason we are very precise on ovulation time when inseminating. This means that the timing of retrieval is paramount and is often performed at night or over the weekend to make sure the embryo is at the perfect age. Only grade 1 or 2 embryos are frozen.
To allow the embryos to survive the freezing process the embryos are placed in increasing concentrations of glycerol (a cryo-protectant) over a one hour period. At the end of this they are placed in a 1/4ml straw labeled and sealed. The embryos are then placed in a human cryogenic freezer which slowly freezes the embryos at a precise rate over the next 2 ½ hours. During the process the straws are seeded with ice crystals which helps avoid damage during the process and the freezer is monitored for liquid nitrogen levels during the entire freeze. At the end of the controlled freeze the embryos are plunged in liquid nitrogen and then ready for long term storage.

Fee Structure.

Embryonix charges an ALL UP fee for embryo freezing. Once a successful frozen embryo is obtained the fee structure is restarted ie. the procedure is only repeated up to 3 times if it is not successful. We are priced this way to help clients better understand what the total cost will be.

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