Ovum Pick-up Technology discussed in updates’ forum

Updates on Ultrasound-guided Ovum Pick-up also known as OPU Technology, were presented to the technical staff during the monthly gathering.

Dr. Peregrino G. Duran, head of the PCC Genepool presented how OPU plays an important and promising role in speeding-up the production of superior water buffaloes.

The forum was held at the PCC Mini Theater last Oct. 14. The activity aims to update technical employees and other units of PCC about the recent development and researches attained.

Dr. Duran, attended training on reproductive biotechnology at Animal Reproduction Institute, Guangxi University and Guangxi Buffalo Research Institute in Nanning, Guangxi Province, China from June 1 to August 29, 2009. The training provided him additional knowledge and hone his skills on the recent technologies on buffalo reproduction.

As explained by Dr. Duran, OPU Technology is a technique where oocytes (immature eggs) are collected from the follicles in the ovaries by aspiration (sucking) using ultrasound guidance through the vaginal wall. These oocytes are then matured in the laboratory for 24 hours then fertilized and cultured for seven days before being transferred to prepared recipients or frozen for use at a later date. The technology aims to retrieve repeatedly Cumulus Oocytes Complex (COC’s) from animals of high genetic merit to generate large number of calves with known production traits and shorten the generation interval in breeding programs.

Highlighted in Dr. Duran’s presentation was the observance of how OPU is conducted in China. It gave a description on how the laboratory equipment, quality of the donor animal, OPU operation in terms of manpower, procedure, animal chute, OPU site, its efficiency, IVP system, and embryo transfer were used for OPU.

Issues that might occur during OPU were also addressed in the presentation.

Dr. Duran said, PCC has adopted the OPU Technology. He said he has plans and programs applying what he learned from the training calculated to enhance current practices, consistent with the agency’s penultimate goal of

uplifting the lives of rural farmers by providing them with a better source of income through carabaos that produce more milk and meat.