In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
Introduction
Mice can be rederived using in vitro fertilization (IVF). Sperm from a frozen sample or a donor male supplied by the investigator can be used to fertilize eggs from superovulated females. Embryos are incubated overnight to the 2-cell stage, and then surgically re-implanted into pseudopregnant females.
Service Description
- superovulate C57BL/6 donor females to produce eggs
- generate pseudopregnant recipient females
- thaw frozen sperm sample or collect fresh sperm from donor male
- perform in vitro fertilization and incubate embryos overnight
- surgically implant fertilized embryos into pseudopregnant females
- monitor pregnant females
- wean pups, ear-tag and tail-tip for genotyping
- For non-UW mice, the recipients must be tested for pathogens before the pups are transferred to your colony. The requesting lab is responsible for any testing fees.
Prices and Guarantees
- The cost of IVF for mouse rederivation includes thawing frozen sperm or harvesting sperm from a donor male.
- When thawing sperm samples frozen in the TRP Core or collecting fresh sperm from a healthy donor male, if the recipients do not become pregnant we will repeat the procedure at no additional cost.
- The TRP will accept frozen sperm samples from outside institutions for IVF, but please note that there is no guarantee of live pups being produced. We will do our utmost to produce live pups, but we have no way of controlling the health of the donor or how the sperm samples were frozen, stored, handled, or shipped before we received them, therefore we cannot guarantee that the frozen sperm will be viable for rederivation.
- Some inbred strains do not perform well for IVF.
- Click here for current rates.
Reserve and IVF Session
To order an IVF session, go to our TRP Forms page. Fill out a “Request for In Vitro Fertilization” form and e-mail it to Robert J Hunter.