Big implications from test tube dogs
Procedure could help preserve rare canine breeds, other animals
WASHINGTON — This summer, seven half-pound mutts from six parents tumbled out of the womb of a single mother.
This isn’t a math problem — it’s biology. And it’s been solved for the first time by in vitro fertilization for dogs.
The technique of fertilizing an egg in a test tube and then implanting the embryo in a woman’s womb has been used to help couples have children since the late 1970s, but scientists have struggled to do the same for canines. The birds and the bees, it would seem, works a little differently in dogs.
But researchers at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, working in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution, managed to tweak the IVF procedure enough to produce the seven healthy IVF puppies — the first in the world, they say.
The dogs, born July 10, are a mix of beagle, Labrador and cocker spaniel.
But the idea wasn’t just to create more puppies. The researchers tout the achievement as having significant implications for wildlife conservation.
“We can freeze and bank sperm to conserve the genetics of endangered species” said co-author Alex Travis, a Cornell professor of reproductive biology.
The method can also be employed to preserve rare breeds both of show and working dogs.
But it’s also likely to have consequences for human health. Dogs and humans share some 350 inherited diseases, including cancer and diabetes. Using IVF will allow researchers to more closely examine how the traits that lead to those illnesses are passed down through dog — and ultimately, human — DNA.
The puppies’ birth was a reward for years of research into making IVF work for dogs.
“We each took a puppy and rubbed it with a little towel and when it started to squiggle and cry, we knew we had success,” said Alexander Travis, who runs the lab at Cornell.
“Their eyes were closed. They were just adorable, cute, with smooshed-in faces. We checked them to make sure they looked normal and were all breathing.”
The problem, the scientists say, is that the canine reproductive cycle differs from that of humans and other mammals. When the female dogs’ eggs were extracted at the same stage of their menstrual cycle as is done for humans, the eggs weren’t yet ready to be fertilized.
According to a press release, the team “found that if they left the egg in the oviduct one extra day, the eggs reached the stage where fertilization was most likely to occur.”
“We can freeze and bank sperm to con serve the genetics of endangered species. PROFESSORALEX TRAVIS OF REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY