5-Dimensional High-Resolution non-invasive assessment of mammalian Embryos (5DHiResE)

到2050年，全球人口将从70亿增加到90亿，自然资源面临越来越大的压力。饮食也正在转向更多的肉类和乳制品，这意味着全球对食物、土地、能源、水和其他资源的需求不断增加，例如磷肥。随着城市化和工业化给土地利用带来更大压力，农业正在争夺资源，畜牧业面临着寻找新方法来满足这一需求的挑战。猪和牛养殖公司将动物运送到养殖项目不发达的国家，以提高当地品种的质量，这是惯例。然而，这样的程序在财务、环境和后勤方面都有很高的成本，并引发了伦理问题，尽管涉及的公司得到了基于证据的保证。这些因素导致猪和牛胚胎的体外生产(IVP)越来越引起生产者的兴趣，因为它可以产生巨大的经济和环境效益。猪和牛占肉类消费的60%，牛奶消费的85%，通过使用这些胚胎，可以大大提高引入遗传改良的速度和效率。它还使我们能够以高动物福利、低成本和生物安全的方式促进遗传优势种群的国内和国际运输。这是一个具有重大全球意义的问题，特别是对参与这一应用的行业合作伙伴来说。然而，要实现猪和牛胚胎用于这一用途的潜力，重大改进是必不可少的。虽然牛(在某种程度上还有猪)IVP继续沿着与人类IVF平行的途径进行，但与人类相比，成功率相对较低。因此，从一开始就考虑到动物胚胎而开发的新颖和创新的方法是迫切需要的，这些方法反过来可能最终影响人类试管受精的未来发展。大多数现代人类试管受精设备现在都拥有既有孵化器又有摄像头的设备，用于监测胚胎发育，一些研究表明，使用这些设备可以提高出生率。虽然我们已经在猪和牛的这一领域取得了重大进展，但成像是有限的，部分原因是猪和牛的胚胎更难看到，因为它们的脂肪含量很高。为了改善这一点，我们最近利用了一种名为光学相干层析成像(OCT)的新技术。这提供了胚胎的3D图像，我们可以将分析扩展到4到5个维度，以查看胚胎有多“活跃”(这称为微动分析-TMA)和胚胎有多“弹性”(使用OCT进行弹性成像测量)。从本质上讲，我们会问这样一个问题：(在3D模式下)胚胎看起来更好看，(TMA)更“活泼”，更有弹性，它们是否更有可能存活下来。这是生物科学和物理科学之间的跨学科合作，是对我们正在进行的改进猪和牛IVP的工作的补充。该建议建立在试管受精诊所对延时成像系统的广泛接受基础上，但将其从2维分析扩展到5维分析。它建立在肯特两个截然不同的学科的世界领先专业知识的基础上。最近的研究表明，2D监测可以显著提高人类试管婴儿的水平。我们打算证明5D监测是否可以改善猪和牛的相同过程。

The global population will rise from 7 to 9 billion by 2050 with an increasing pressure on natural resources. Diets are also changing towards more meat and dairy products meaning that there is increasing global demand for food, land, energy, water and other resources, e.g. phosphate fertilisers. The livestock sector is challenged to find new ways of accommodating this need while agriculture is competing for resources as urbanisation and industrialisation put more pressure on land use. It is routine practice for pig and cattle breeding companies to transport animals to countries with underdeveloped breeding programs to enhance the quality of their local breeds. Such procedures however have a high cost financially, environmentally and logistically, and raise ethical concerns, despite evidence-based assurances of the companies involved. These factors have resulted in the in vitro production (IVP) of pig and cattle embryos being of increased interest to producers, given that great financial and environmental benefits could be made. Pigs and cattle account for ~60% of meat and ~85% of milk consumption and speed and efficiency at which genetic improvement can be introduced can be much improved through the use of these embryos. It also allows us to facilitate the national and international transport of genetically superior stock in a high animal-welfare, low-cost and bio-secure manner. This is an issue of great global significance, particularly to the industrial partners involved in this application. Significant improvements are however essential to realise the potential of pig and cattle embryos for this use. While cattle (and to some extent pig) IVP continues along a parallel path to human IVF, success rates are relatively low compared to human. Novel and innovative approaches developed with animal embryos in mind from the outset are thus urgently needed and these may, in turn, ultimately inform future developments in human IVF. Most modern human IVF units now own devices that are both incubator and camera for monitoring embryo development and some studies show that their use improves birth rates. While we have made significant strides in this area for pigs and cattle, the imaging is limited, in part because pig and cattle embryos are harder to see because of their high fat content. To improve this, we have recently made use of a new technique called Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). This provides a 3D image of the embryo and we can extend the analysis into 4 and 5 dimensions to look at how "active" the embryos are (this is called tiny movement analysis - TMA) and how "elastic" the embryos are (using OCT for elastography measurements). In essence, we will ask the question whether embryos that are "better looking"(in 3D) more "lively" (TMA) and more "elastic" are more likely to survive. This is a cross-disciplinary collaboration between Biosciences and Physical Sciences and complements the work we have ongoing to improve pig and cattle IVP generally. The proposal builds on the widespread acceptance of time lapse imaging systems in IVF clinics but augments it from 2 to 5 dimensional analysis. It builds on the world leading expertise of two very different disciplines at Kent. Recent research has shown that 2D monitoring can significantly improve human IVF. We intend to demonstrate whether 5D monitoring can improve the equivalent process in pigs and cattle.