Culture of Rabbit Blastocyst in a Medium with a Convection Current

Abstract

ALTHOUGH mammalian embryos have been cultured successfully in a recirculating medium continuously recharged with gas^1–4, our attempts at rabbit blastocyst culture in such a system were not always as satisfactory as anticipated⁴. The blastocystic membrane usually ruptured, followed by collapse of the whole embryo within two to three days. One explanation was that the embryonic disk was pressed against the wall of the culture chamber because of its own buoyance, and therefore designed a new system in which recirculation was achieved by a convection current induced by point heating from a cautery (Fig. 1).