Selected issues concerning biotechnology of farm animals breeding – a review

Achievements made in the last decades in biotechnology of farm animals breeding allowed to develop this branch of science, improve the animal breeding and also make progress in human and veterinary medicine. The most important biotechniques are: in vitro embryo production including maturation of oocytes, fertilization and embryos culture; cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer and its modification as: interspecies cell nuclear transfer; nuclear transfer of embryonic stem cells and cloning by embryonic cell nuclear transfer. Also the important biotechniques are production of transgenic animals by microinjection or transgenic somatic cell nuclear transfer; xenotransplantation and production of chimaeras (using embryonic and somatic cells). Among all these biotechniques, the most beneficiary are those involved or used in biomedicine, as they form the link between farm animals and humans.