Meet IVY: World’s First Test Tube Beagle Puppy is Born in United States

A revolutionary breakthrough in the field of veterinary medicine and anatomy is being rejoiced across the lobbies of the dog bio genetics by the birth of seven healthy and perfectly normal beagle and cross-bred beagle-spaniel puppies to a surrogate mother. The researches lead by Dr. Alexander Travis of Cornell University (college of veterinary medicine) bore fruit in the summer of 2015 but were kept a secret until this week, with formal announcements taking the scientific world by storm.

World’s first litter of puppies born by IVF in the United States are at play!

                                                                                                                              (Image – Jeffrey MacMillan / Cornell)

Systematic investigations in the area of In-vitro fertilization to breed dogs can be dated back to the mid 1970s. But all in vain as none of these attempts were successful, it’s because the reproductive cycle in dogs is a bit more complex compared to other mammals. “Dogs go into heat and produce eggs only twice a year and when they ovulate an egg, it gets released at a very early stage,’’ explained Dr. Travis.

Travis added, “so for instance in human or mouse, when the egg is ovulated it’s pretty much ready to be fertilized. In the dog it has to mature in the oviduct or fallopian tube for several days.’’

The team of scientists at Cornell aced the IVF technique by creating a magnesium bath and finding the right stage of egg cell development. The frozen embryos were placed in a female dog using techniques similar to those employed in case of humans.

The success of IVF in dogs is a milestone achievement that has open doors for researchers worldwide to

Cornell scientist, Jennifer Nagashima and Nucharin Songsasen, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, walk three of the pups [Image – Jeffrey Mac millan/ Cornell]

be able to work upon the conservation of endangered species of dogs such as the red wolf, the African painted dog & the Ethiopian wolf and possibly a few of the cat breeds too. The highlight of this advancement in animal health care is that it has opened a new path for adopting gene editing technologies and by being able to eliminate disease causing genes.

This new technique is increasingly being welcomed as a stepping stone in the study of common inherited human and dog diseases. It has been estimated that around 350 diseases that are caused in dogs are hereditary and similar to those found in human beings. For instance dogs such as golden retrievers are very susceptible to cancer and therefore are often studied in laboratories to analyze human ailments.

The first test-tube puppies of our Modern World have been given interesting names – Cannon, Ivy, Beaker, Red, Green, Buddy and Nelly. Looks like Dr. Travis and his team have gotten themselves busy with house training the cute lot before each of them step into an independent world and a new loving home.

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