Reproductive biology
General line of research
In vivo, the oocyte matures in the follicle, meets the sperm and the embryo starts to cleave in the oviduct before it continues to develop and implant in the uterus.
During in vitro fertilization and culture of the embryo, many conditions are not optimal yet. Here, we focus on how these suboptimal conditions are impacting on mammalian oocyte and sperm quality and embryo development and how we can improve the final outcome, using the bovine as a model for human.
We focus on five contemporary basic research questions :
- How can extracellular vesicles affect oocyte and embryo quality and implantation?
- Can oocyte- or embryo-derived extracellular vesicles and their contents serve as biomarkers ?
- How is chromosomal integrity of the embryo affected by suboptimal environment?
- Can we reverse oocyte ageing, as seen in women of advanced maternal age?
- How is heat stress affecting male reproduction ?
We are also collaborating with other disciplines to make the embryo production system more automated, by using machine learning and microfluidics.
We have ongoing collaborations on wildlife mammalian reproduction and gamete cryopreservation.
Partnerships
RBU is also a partner of a Joint Doctorate programme aimed at Advancing Fertility and Reproduction thrOugh Dedicated and Innovative Technological Applications (AFRODITA).
Current doctorates
- Haitao Li : Identification of biomarkers for implantation secreted by human embryos and their effect on human endometrial cells
- Juri Gnagnarelli: Extracellular vesicles and how they can affect bovine oocyte quality
- Qurratulain Amin : Non-invasive delivery methods for miRNAs and their effect on bovine embryo development