Abstract
There is great variation in the survival rate of microinjected eggs introduced into pseudopregnant recipient female mice. If the survival rate is low, then the few eggs that do develop tend to be “overnourished” and grow into larger fetuses compared to the embryos of a normal-sized litter. Under such circumstances, the overgrown embryos can sometimes fail to be delivered, because their size prevents normal passage down the birth canal. If pregnancy proceeds for 2 or 3 d beyond the normal gestation period of 19–21 d, there is a danger that the pups will die in utero. Such pups can be rescued by caesarean section and fostering. Fostering may also be needed to save the valuable transgenic, but unweaned, pups born normally to a mother that unexpectedly dies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsAuthor information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1993 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Murphy, D. (1993). Caesarean Section and Fostering. In: Murphy, D., Carter, D.A. (eds) Transgenesis Techniques. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 18. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1385/0-89603-245-0:177
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/0-89603-245-0:177
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-0-89603-245-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-505-1
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols