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Trans Ova on the cutting edge of reproductive research Tuesday, August 29, 2006
By Ryan Wendland
news@agrinews.com
SIOUX CENTER, Iowa -- Don't be fooled by the two miles of bumpy gravel road it takes to get to Trans Ova. The firm's headquarters, which doesn't look much different than a modern livestock farm, is as high tech as it gets.
"There's nobody in the world that does what we do for our clients," Chris Sigurdson, sales and marketing director at Trans Ova, said.
Tran Ova began in 1980 as an on-farm embryo transfer service provider by Faber, Funk and Schuiteman. Today, 90 percent of Trans Ova clients raise beef cattle, and 50 percent of those clients raise Angus. Fifteen years ago, half of Trans Ova's clientele were dairy producers. Trans Ova is currently re-entering the elite and commercial dairy industry. One burgeoning market Trans Ova has entered is bucking stock, which has gone from backyard hobby for many producers to a multi-million-dollar business.
Trans Ova has 11 facilities in mostly Midwest states. Technicians will handle about 25,000 embryos from about 6,000 donor cows. Sigurdson said the company would transfer embryos into 7,000 recipients in 2007.
"We work with cows that are worth up to $250,000 to $500,000. Those are some of the kind of cows we are humbled to work with," Sigurdson said. "There is a pen of seven cows right here that is worth a million bucks."
The same technology used to create human embryos is used at Trans Ova, and because of the high financial value of those embryos, recipients are rigorously tested. Recipients undergo reproductive tract analysis, strict vaccination protocol and background checks.
Trans Ova has grown to offer more advanced services, such as in-vitro fertilization and sexed semen, which offers a 90 percent chance of determining sex. This is particularly important for dairy producers who primarily want females. During just the past few months, Trans Ova has been able to freeze and thaw in-vitro fertilized embryos, which is also important for the dairy industry because timing dairy cows and fresh embryos can be a tricky business, Sigurdson said.
Trans Ova has also become involved with genetic preservation and cloning. Genetic preservation is the stepping-stone to cloning. This year, the company will make genetic twins from 93 animals. While many are leery of cloning and genetic preservation, Sigurdson believes it is just a natural technological transition.
"Twenty-five years ago people were hesitant to surgically remove embryos from one cow and surgically open another cow and put those embryos in." Sigurdson said.
Sigurdson said the services Trans Ova provides are becoming more mainstream and affordable for commercial use rather than just for elite cattle owners. |
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