Iranian Firm Produces Livestock Embryos in Vitro
This technology, using ultrasound to retrieve eggs from living, genetically valuable animals, has made it possible to produce 20 to 30 embryos from an elite cow in a short period of time before reaching reproductive age.
These embryos are transferred to the uterus of ordinary and non-elite cows, and as a result, without the need to import livestock, a herd of cows with high genetic value can be created that are superior in terms of milk production, reproduction, and economic productivity.
The knowledge-based company, named Sina Fanavaran Mandegar’ has been able to indigenize the complete cycle of livestock IVF in Iran, from the production of embryos of superior beef and dairy breeds to their successful transfer to recipient cows. This technology has increased the pregnancy success rate even in ordinary livestock to more than 60% and has significantly reduced costs by replacing direct livestock imports.
“This year, we have reached the nominal annual production capacity of 10,000 embryos at Sina Fanavaran Mandegar company, and we plan to increase this capacity in the coming years, considering export projects,” said Mohammad Mehdi Naderi, the founder of the company.
In a relevant development in 2023, another knowledge-based company in Iran had succeeded in producing embryos from high-yielding dairy and beef cows by using the IVF technology.
“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.
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