title: Synergies between assisted reproduction technologies and functional genomics.
abstract: This review, is a synopsis of advanced reproductive technologies in farm animals, including the discussion of their limiting factors as revealed by the study of offspring derived from embryos produced in vitro and through cloning. These studies show that the problems of epigenetic mis-programming, which were reported in the initial stages of assisted reproduction, still persist. The importance of whole-genome analyses, including the methylome and transcriptome, in improving embryo biotechnologies in farm animals, are discussed. Genome editing approaches for the improvement of economically-relevant traits in farm animals are also described. Efficient farm animal embryo biotechnologies, including cloning and the most recent technologies such as genome editing, will effectively complement the latest strategies to accelerate genetic improvement of farm animals.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy. ploi@unite.it.
authors.forename: Pasqualino
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Loi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Toschi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy.|Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Postepu 36A, Jastrzębiec, 05-552, Magdalenka, Poland.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zacchini
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy.|Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Postepu 36A, Jastrzębiec, 05-552, Magdalenka, Poland.|National Research Institute of Animal Production 1, Krakowska Street, 32-083, Balice n/Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Grazyna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ptak
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy.
authors.forename: Pier A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Scapolo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology, National Research Council, 26900, Lodi, Italy.
authors.forename: Emanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Capra
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology, National Research Council, 26900, Lodi, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stella
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Zootecnica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, Italy.|Proteomic and Nutrigenomic Research Center - PRONUTRIGEN, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo Ajmone
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Marsan
authors.affiliation: Davies Research Centre, School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, SA, 5371, Australia.
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic / Q000235:genetics*; D001709:Biotechnology; D001947:Breeding; D019976:Cloning, Organism / Q000662:veterinary; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D000072669:Gene Editing; D023281:Genomics / Q000379:methods*; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted / Q000662:veterinary*