Reproductive biology in the era of genomics biology.

Current and emerging technologies in reproductive biology, including assisted reproductive technologies and animal cloning, are discussed in the context of the impact of genomics era biology. The discussion focuses on the endocrinology associated with establishment and maintenance of pregnancy, fetal-placental development, lactation, and neonatal survival. Various aspects of uterine biology, including development during the neonatal period and function in adult females, are discussed with respect to reproductive efficiency. It is clear that combining strategies for use of conventional animal models for studying the reproductive system with new genomics technologies will provide exceptional opportunities in discovery research involving data integration and application of functional genomics to benefit animal agriculture and the biomedical community. New and emerging biotechnologies and comparative genomics approaches will greatly advance our understanding of genes that are critical to development of the reproductive system and to key events at each stage of the reproductive cycle of females and males.