"Right now we have about a 15 percent success rate," said Maclellan. "We had two successful pregnancies out of about twelve."
Squires believes the procedure would need to have a success rate of 50 to 75 percent before it could be commercialized.
Growing Market Demand
Changes in the horse-breeding industry suggest there may be a huge market for frozen eggs as well as sperm.
New rules now allow frozen sperm to be used for breeding American Quarter Horses and American Paint Horses, which are the largest breeds in the United States. Together they produce more than 200,000 foals each year, said Squires.
Although the first foal produced from frozen sperm was born in 1957, the use of frozen sperm for breeding was not accepted until recently because there were no tests that could verify the parentage.
"Now, with DNA fingerprinting and other genetic techniques, we are able to confirm parentage," said Squires.
"Within the next five to ten years, freezing techniques will revolutionize breeding, allowing us to move valuable genetic material from horses around the world like never before," he added.
The researchers hope the freezing procedure also may prove effective for harvesting the eggs of endangered species.
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