Each year the IETS Data Retrieval Committee presents their annual report on global bovine embryo transfer (ET) statistics. They recently released the 2016 figures, and the numbers show an interesting trend away from traditional multiple ovulation embryo transfer (MOET) and towards in vitro embryo production (IVP).
Multiple Ovulation and Embryo Transfer – MOET
A picture (or in this case a graph) tells a thousand words, and here we can see the global picture for MOET techniques over the past four years, with a recent drop in the number of embryo flushes (6.87%), transferrable embryos collected (6.74%) and embryos transferred (4.18%) in MOET applications reported in 2016 versus 2015:
In Vitro Embryo Production – IVP
Meanwhile, figures regarding the collection and transfer of bovine IVP embryos told a different story, with an upswing in embryo production (8.73%) and embryo transfers (11.43%) from 2015 to 2016. The results are even more marked when you consider that Asia did not report any IVP data for 2016. The IVP stats from Asia were also missing in 2014, so we’ve omitted their data from our global trend chart here to give a clearer picture.
North America saw a particular surge in IVP embryo production, with 48,528 additional embryos produced in 2016 in comparison to 2015.
We weren’t the only ones to spot these differences, with the IETS report also noting the increasing popularity of bovine IVP embryos relative to MOET embryos over the past 20 years.
Keeping it cool
The report also highlighted the growing international trade in bovine IVP embryos, an observation that also links to the rising popularity of frozen bovine IVP embryos, as the technology advances and cryo-survival rates improve. The trend can be seen here marked by the falling proportion of IVP embryos being transferred fresh.
