1: Human embryo morphology and developmental capacity.- 1. Introduction.- 2. EggCyte(tm) Embryology Database.- 3. Zygote Morphology.- 4.

Cleavage Stage embryos.- 5. Morulae and Blastocysts.- 6. Conclusions and future directions.- 2: Morphological evaluation of embryos in domestic species.- 1. Introduction.

- 2. Developmental processes in embryos.- 3. Classification of embryos by stage of development.- 4. Classification of embryos by quality grade.- 5. Relationship between embryo morphology evaluation and pregnancy rates.

- 6. Factors affecting embryo evaluation.- 7. Embryo morphology in other domestic species.- 8. Conclusion.- 3: Metabolic markers of embryo viability.- 1.

Introduction.- 2. General characteristics of embryo metabolism.- 3. Non-invasive techniques of evaluation.- 4. Evaluation of embryo viability after embryo manipulation.- 5.

Conclusions.- 4: Embryo quality and freezing tolerance: cryopreservation of human embryos.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Selection of embryos for cryopreservation: features related to freezing tolerance.- 3. Conclusion.

- 5: Factors influencing cryopreservation of domestic animal embryos.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Factors affecting freezing tolerance.- 3. Cryobiological aspects.- 4.

Possible methods to improve freezing resistance.- 5. Conclusion.- 6: Timing of embryo development.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Timing of embryo development as an indicator of viability.

- 3. Genetic regulation of embryo development timing.- 4. Timing of events during fertilization.- 5. Culture media effects on timing of embryo development.- 6. Timing of human embryo development.

- 7. Summary and conclusions.- 7: Biopsy and preimplantation diagnosis of human embryos.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).- 3.

Obtaining oocytes and embryos.- 4. Methods ofoocyte and embryo biopsy.- 5. Methods of diagnosis.- 6. Use of PGD technology for evaluation of mammalian embryo quality.- 8: Biopsying and genotyping cattle embryos.

- 1. Introduction.- 2. Embryo biopsy methods.- 3. Pregnancy rates.- 4. DNA tests performed on the biopsy.

- 5. Conclusion.- 9: Multiphoton microscopy for imaging mammalian embryos.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Multiphoton microscopy basics.- 3.

Embryo culture for imaging.- 4. Viability (laboratory species).- 5. Imaging depth (domestic species).- 6. Maximizing information from rare specimens (non-human primate).- 7.

Potential future directions.- 8. Conclusion.- 10: Is the frequency of chromosome abnormalities influenced by in vitro techniques?.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Methodology.

- 3. Chromosome abnormalities in embryos.- 4. Is the incidence of chromosomal abnormalities increased by in vitro culture?.- 5. Conclusion.- 11: Differential staining of inner and outer cells to assess mammalian embryo quality.- 1.

Introduction.- 2. Embryonic development.- 3. Differential staining of the blastocyst.- 4. Conclusion.- 12: Apoptosis in mammalian embryos.

- 1. Introduction.- 2. Definitions of cell death.- 3. Characteristic features of apoptosis in mammalian embryos: incidence and detection.- 4. Examples of application.

- 5. Advantages and disadvantages of different techniques.- 6. Conclusions.- 13: Electron microscopy of pre-hatching mammalian embryos: the ultrastructure of cattle, swine and horse embryos.- 1. Introduction.- 2.

Basic considerations on the ultrastructure of pre-hatching mammalian embryos.- 3. Ultrastructure of the oocyte, zygote and pre-hatching embryo in cattle.- 4. Ultrastructure of the zygote and pre-hatching embryo in swine.- 5. Ultrastructure of the zygote and pre-hatching embryo in horse.- 14: Differences ingene expression patterns related to origin of preimplantation embryos.

- 1. Introduction.- 2. Methodological aspects of mRNA expression analysis.- 3. Gene expression patterns in bovine preimplantation embryos.- 4. Alterations in gene expression patterns of preimplantation rodent embryos.

- 5. Gene expression patterns in human embryos.- 6. Summary and concluding remarks.- 15: Protocols.- Appendix I: The electron microscope.- Appendix II: Processing of eggs for transmission electron microscopy.- Appendix III: Human preimplantation diagnosis pcr and RT-PCR.

- Appendix IV: Human preimplantation diagnosis fluorescence in situ-hybridization (FISH) on individual blastomeres.- Appendix V: Fluorescence in situ-hybridization (FISH) on metaphases in bovine embryos.- Appendix VI: Differential staining.- Colour plates.