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Highlights

The ability to non-invasively predict the developmental potential of preimplantation embryos would be of considerable benefit in both the clinic and for various biotechnical applications. However, such prognostications have so far been found deficient. At last, a paper by Booth et al., on p. 765 presents a promising approach. This study evaluates the influence of time of cleavage, symmetry of division, degree of embryo fragmentation, net rates of amino acid depletion, and appearance during early pig embryo development on successful blastocyst formation. After impressive statistical gymnastics, the authors can provide a robust evaluation of developmental potential. A key is the use of multivariate analysis rather than dependence upon any single mode of evaluation.

Paul J. Booth, Terry J. Watson, and Henry J. Leese. Prediction of Porcine Blastocyst Formation Using Morphological, Kinetic, and Amino Acid Depletion and Appearance Criteria Determined During the Early Cleavage of In Vitro-Produced Embryos. Biol Reprod 2007; 77:765–779. Published online in BOR-Papers In Press 25 July 2007; DOI 10.1095/biolreprod.107.062802

Counting stem cells.

Spermatogonial stem cell transfer surgery is the major means not only for investigation of cell autonomy of traits influencing spermatogenesis, but also for determination of stem cell representation and potential among a population of spermatogonia. Yet a major difficulty has been assessing numbers of actual "stem" cells in a population of isolated spermatogonial cells. Now, in a paper on p. 897, Yeh and colleagues report a short-term assay to quantitate stem cells. They found that each donor stem cell generates a single cluster in vitro; thus, the number of clusters in culture is linearly related to actual stem cell number determined by the transplantation assay. As a result, this relatively rapid and facile assay is an important advance because it will enable analyses of the actual stem cells among a population of spermatogonia.

Jonathan R. Yeh, Xiangfan Zhang, and Makoto C. Nagano. Establishment of a Short-Term In Vitro Assay for Mouse Spermatogonial Stem Cells. Biol Reprod 2007; 77:897–904. Published online in BOR-Papers In Press 8 August 2007; DOI 10.1095/biolreprod.107.063057

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content