Avian germplasm preservation: Embryonic stem cells or primordial germ cells? Poult. Sci

ABSTRACT Presently, avian genetic resources are best maintained as living collections of birds. Unfortunately, these stocks have been under constant pressure to be destroyed because of the decline in the number of Poultry Science Departments and pressures to cut costs at land grant institutions. Cryopreservation of semen is often suggested as a means to bank avian germplasm. How-ever, this is only applicable for single-gene traits and does not allow for full reconstitution of the genetics of the original line. Over the last 15 yr, advances in the manipu-lation of the early chick embryo, manipulation of primor-dial germ cells (PGC), and the culture of embryonic stem cells (ESC) suggests that cryopreservation of blastoderma