MOET Technology

Multiple Ovulation Embryo Transfer Technology (MOET) refers to a procedure that is used in advanced cattle breeding. It mainly involves a superovulation programme where the donor cow is administered with hormones, specifically ones having FSH like activity in order to induce follicular maturation in them. As a result of which they are able to produce 6-8eggs, instead of one egg during a natural heat. The donor cow is inseminated artificially. The fertilised eggs at 8-32 celled stages, can be recovered non-surgically and are transferred to surrogate mothers. This technology is mainly used to increase the herd size in a very short time. The MOET programme is mainly carried out in cattle since it increases the production of offspring.  

However, this process can be also used as a treatment of infertile females due to disease, injury or ageing. MOET helps in minimising the disease transmission risk geographically also from herd to herd, several diseases that exist in the mother cannot be transmitted into the embryo. Various factors are identified that affect the increasing pregnancy rates and the success of MOET. The major factors affecting MOET include nutrition, condition of donor and recipient, stage of cycle, sensitivity to follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), follicle population and stress.

Procedure of MOET

The process of MOET is discussed as follows:

Programming

The donor cattle is injected with follicle-stimulating hormone and prostaglandin. These hormones are injected only in the muscles. For this technology the cows are required to be provided with proper nutrients before and after calving. Routine check-ups play a significant role in order to ensure that they are clean and healthy.

Heat Detection

While the cows are artificially inseminated then heats should be properly managed.

Embryo Collection

The donor and recipient cattle are needed to be placed in a safe, secured and covered place. The donor cow should be injected with an epidural in order to relax her bowel. To prevent any infections the rear end of the cows is washed properly and sterilised. The veterinary doctor has to insert their hands in the rectum of the donor in order to locate a catheter into one horn of its uterus. The fluid then runs into the uterine horn. The fluid flows back through the catheter and a very thin filter, where the embryos are caught. Hence, the embryos are collected. The donor now is injected with prostaglandin after a completed three days for proper cycling.

Embryology

The filter can be observed under a microscope for the embryos. The detected embryos are counted, graded and washed. The embryos are then frozen and preserved in liquid nitrogen at -190℃ so that they can be used later or are transferred into the suitable recipients by the help of transfer guns.

Embryo Transfer

Now the recipient cows are injected with an epidural. They are then washed and their ovaries observed to check their cycle. The embryo can now be deposited into the uterus by the help of a transfer gun.

Advantages of MOET

The various advantages of MOET are:

• It helps to produce high milk yielding females and high-quality meat yielding bulls in a very short time.

• This method can also be applied when the success rate of crossing is very low even after artificial insemination.

• It increases the reproductive rates of individuals or groups of animals.

• It is a non-surgical method.

• Embryos can be transferred fresh, or are frozen in laboratories for later use.

• This entire procedure of MOET can be carried out on a farm.

Drugs used in MOET

This method involves the use of FSH in order to promote the release of more than one egg from the ovaries. In addition to FSH, progesteron such as CIDR, PPMS, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (like Receptal), and lastly Prostaglandin (such as Estroplan or Estrumate injection) are generally used on animals for rotating them at the specific time. Drugs like Narcotics which are responsible for depressing the central nervous system, are used to relieve pain.

Conclusion

The main goal of MOET is to increase the chances of becoming pregnant in cattle. This procedure is widely used to increase the chances of becoming pregnant via transferring multiple embryos into the uterus at a time. Embryo transfer refers to a process of transferring an embryo from a donor to a recipient via a series of steps that are majorly dependent on factors associated with the embryo, the donor, the recipient and the interaction among factors of the embryo and recipient. Several considerations are required to be taken into account while deciding to implement an embryo transfer like the 

preparation of donor and recipient, the selection of embryo that is to be transferred into recipient and the requirements for close civility of oestrus cycle between the donor and recipient. It is very vital to ensure 

that successful pregnancies of recipients are mainly at a higher rate that is beneficial to the animal industry. So here, we come to an end of this topic. We hope that you were able to grasp a clear concept of MOET. We suggest you focus more on understanding the topic rather than just mugging it up.