Preterm birth
James Elgin Gill (born on 20 May 1987 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) was the earliest premature baby in the world, until that record was broken in 2014. He was 128 days premature (21 weeks and 5 days' gestation) and weighed . He survived.
Embryo transfer
The development of various methods of cryopreservation of bovine embryos improved embryo transfer technique considerably efficient technology, no longer depending on the immediate readiness of suitable recipients. Pregnancy rates are just slightly less than those achieved with fresh embryos. Recently, the use of cryoprotectants such as ethylene glycol has permitted the direct transfer of bovine embryos. The world's first live crossbred bovine calf produced under tropical conditions by Direct Transfer (DT) of embryo frozen in ethylene glycol freeze media was born on 23 June 1996. Dr. Binoy Sebastian Vettical of Kerala Livestock Development Board Ltd has produced the embryo stored frozen in Ethylene Glycol freeze media by slow programmable freezing (SPF) technique and transferred directly to recipient cattle immediately after thawing the frozen straw in water for the birth of this calf. In a study, in vivo produced crossbred bovine embryos stored frozen in ethylene glycol freeze media were transferred directly to recipients under tropical conditions and achieved a pregnancy rate of 50 percent. In a survey of the North American embryo transfer industry, embryo transfer success rates from direct transfer of embryos were as good as to those achieved with glycerol. Moreover, in 2011, more than 95% of frozen-thawed embryos were transferred by Direct Transfer.