The utility of Brilliant Cresyl Blue (BCB) staining of mammalian oocytes used for in vitro embryo production (IVP)

The present article summarizes the results of experiments investigating the Brilliant Cresyl Blue (BCB) staining for selection of immature oocytes before in vitro embryo production or somatic cell nuclear transfer. Developmental competence of oocytes stained with BCB and quality of blastocysts derived from such oocytes as well as the expression of apoptosis-related genes, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) replication-related genes and the transcripts encoded by the mitochondrial genome in BCB stained oocytes are discussed.