Assisted Reproductive Technologies in Small Ruminants

Assisted reproductive technologies or techniques (ARTs) refer to achieving a pregnancy by artificial means or partial artificial means. However, there is not complete consensus about this definition, because ART for others includes all the fertility treatments in which both female and male gametes are handled. The first ART was artificial insemination (AI). Then the following ARTs were developed: embryo transfer (ET), in vitro production of embryos (IVP), assisted fertilization techniques (AFTs), gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT), zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT), and cloning. Most recent ARTs are the use of sexed semen, cytoplasmic transfer to zygote or oocytes, and others. Most of the ARTs are inter-related to each other; for example, the production of an embryo by in vitro fertilization will require embryo culture and further embryo transfer procedure to obtain an offspring. [...]