THE CATTLE INDUSTRY, INCLUDING BEEF AND DAIRY PRODUCTS, HAS A HUGE IMPACT ON THE ECONOMICS OF US FARMS IN ADDITION TO THEIR OBVIOUSIMPACT ON THE FOOD SYSTEM. TO PRODUCE COWS WITH THE HIGHEST GENETIC MERIT, THE USE OF ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES HAS SKYROCKETED IN RECENT YEARS. CURRENTLY, MOST CATTLE EMBRYOS TRANSFERRED ARE PRODUCED BYIN VITROOOCYTE MATURATION, FERTILIZATION, AND EMBRYO CULTURE. HOWEVER, THE EFFICIENCY OF THE IN VITRO SYSTEM REMAINS POOR, WITH AN OVERALL EFFICIENCY OF JUST 8-15%. ONE OF THE MOST COMMON ARREST POINTS IS THE 8-CELL STAGE, WHEN THE EMBRYO ALSO UNDERGOES A MAJOR EVENT KNOWN AS EMBRYONIC GENOME ACTIVATION (EGA). DURING EGA THE EMBRYO TRANSITIONS BETWEEN RELYING ON MATERNALLY PROVIDED TRANSCRIPTS TO EXPRESSING TRANSCRIPTS FROM THE NEWLY FORMED EMBRYONIC GENOME. THIS PROJECT WILL ELUCIDATE THE ROLE OF A KEY PLAYER IN THE PROCESS OF EGA AND ITS IMPACT ON DEVELOPMENT AND EXPRESSION OF KEY TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS. BY BETTER UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISM OF EGA, THIS PROJECT WILL PAVE THE WAY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES TO IMPROVE CALVING EFFICIENCY FOR THE BEEF AND DAIRY INDUSTRIES. MORE IMMEDIATELY, THIS WORK WILL ALSO CATALOG VISUAL CHARACTERISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH HEALTHY AND IMPAIRED EGA, WHICH WILL ENHANCE OUR ABILITY TO SELECT BETTER EMBRYOS FOR TRANSFER. ALTOGETHER, THIS WORK WILL IMPROVEANIMAL HEALTH AND EFFICIENT PRODUCTION OF ANIMAL PRODUCTS, THEREBY LOWERING THE COST AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF FEEDING OUR WORLD.?