Gestation length, calf birth weight, calving difficulty, perinatal mortality, and calf health following timed artificial insemination or embryo transfer with fresh or frozen in vitro-produced embryos.

Summary: Scientists wanted to find out if the way a baby cow (calf) is conceived changes how it is born or how healthy it is. They compared calves made the usual way (artificial insemination) with calves grown in a lab and then placed in the mother cow (embryo transfer). They discovered that lab-grown calves stayed in the mother a little longer and weighed a bit more at birth. Beef breed calves grown in a lab had a harder time being born than dairy breed calves. However, no matter how they were conceived, all the calves were just as healthy and had the exact same survival rates!