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IVM in animals
IVM has also been used in domestic animals including mice, cats , dogs  , swine , sheep , horse and cattle  as well as wild species such as buffalo , bison , fish , lions , tigers and leopards. The ability to recover animals’ oocytes initially destined for ovarian follicle atresia, can be utilized by researchers, conservationists and the agriculture industry for academic purposes or for improving breeding systems.

In research, IVM can be carried out on animals so as to understand the developmental capacities of oocytes under certain conditions, or to understand the specific reproductive biology during that developmental period. IVM in other species is also carried out as some animals are used as models to study human-related reproductive biology. This research is often carried out with the aim of improving success rates of in vitro systems and/or aim to improve fertility in vivo.

It can also be used for subsequent biotechnology applications such as for the creation of transgenic animals using innovative gene-editing techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9, TALENs and ZFNs for biomedical research. An example includes genetically engineered pigs with CD163 and CD1D genes knocked out. One of the ways these pigs were created was by injecting the CRISPR/Cas9 system into fertilised oocytes that were matured in vitro.

In agriculture, IVM is usually carried out prior to IVF or artificial insemination as a means of conserving desirable traits of particular animals within herds and counteracting lower production as a result of seasonal breeding. In livestock species such cattle, transvaginal oocyte recovery from the ovaries of live female animals can be repeatedly carried out prior to the in vitro production of embryos.

In non-domesticated animals, IVM can also be used for the conservation of endangered species whilst maintaining genetic diversity. However, due to limited resources and the species-specific nature of assisted reproductive technologies, the application of techniques such as IVM is still rare for non-domesticated animals.