Experimental chimaeras—removal of reproductive barrier between sheep and goat

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Following reciprocal embryo transfer between sheep and goats, the embryo of the foreign species is able to induce early pregnancy but the embryos do not survive beyond the first weeks of gestation1,2. Similar results have been obtained from hybridization experiments on sheep and goats. While the causes for early embryonic death of hybrid eggs from donor sheep are unknown, the reciprocal event has been associated with immunological implications2–7. As a means of overcoming the reproductive barrier between sheep and goats, we have transferred interspecific chimaeric embryos. We report here the birth of a goat kid from a sheep mother.