PREFACE

 The birth of the first calf following in vitro fertilization was reported by Brackett and

colleagues in 1982. Since that time, in vitro embryo production has become a widely used

assisted reproductive technology in cattle, with several companies around the world offering

commercial embryo production services. According to the International Embryo Transfer

Society, more than 265,000 in vitro produced bovine embryos were transferred worldwide in

2005 (Thibier, 2006).

 The road leading to the current state of in vitro embryo production in cattle began more

than 40 years ago when Edwards first reported the in vitro maturation (completion of meiosis I)

of bovine oocytes collected from non-ovulatory stage follicles in 1965. In the time since this

initial report, much research has been devoted to developing and improving the process of in

vitro embryo production. As a consequence, a great deal of knowledge has been accumulated

about the regulation of early embryo development in vitro, including the importance of the

oocyte (Sirard et al., 2006), the role of media components such as amino acids (Thompson,

2000), and the effect of oxygen tension (Harvey, 2006), among others.

 Although much is known about the regulation of embryo development in vitro, very little

is know about how the maternal reproductive tract regulates embryo development and survival in

vivo. While embryos produced in vitro are exposed to a relatively static media composed of

salts, energy substrates and amino acids, embryos derived in vivo are exposed to a complex,

constantly changing, milieu of molecules, including hormones, cytokines and growth factors.

This dissertation will focus on one of these molecules, insulin-like growth factor-1, and its

actions on embryo development in vitro and subsequent survival following transfer.