Biopsy of Blastomeres from Cleavage-stage Mouse Embryos with Eppendorf PiezoXpert®

Embryo biopsy is the removal of one or more cells from the preimplantation embryo. For biopsy the 8-cell stage embryo is prevalently used because of its mitotic index and totipotency of the individual cells. The biopsy procedure requires an opening in the zona pellucida (ZP), which is usually performed chemically, mechanically or using laser systems. This Application Note introduces a piezo-assisted mouse embryo biopsy technique using the Eppendorf PiezoXpert. The survival of biopsied embryos was verified at the morula and blastocyst stages.