Currently within in vitro production systems, preimplantation mammalian embryos are selected for transfer to a recipient based on morphological assessment including visual valuation of cell number, fragmentation, compaction, and color for grading the embryo in terms of stage and quality. Though embryos may be of similar morphology, they may not be of similar developmental competence. Transcriptomic analysis performed in our laboratory revealed differential expression of 793 genes between in vitro- and in vivo-derived embryos, with 35 genes uniquely expressed within the in vivo embryos and 10 genes uniquely expressed within the in vitro embryos. A more efficient method of embryo selection would assess the potential reproductive success of both gametes and embryos based on their underlying genetic potential. miRNAs are a class of non-coding RNA that are 18–22 nucleotides in length which act to regulate gene expression of their target mRNAs through a RNA interference mechanism. These miRNAs have been found to be secreted out of cells into the extracellular environment with relatively high stability. Recently, we found that miRNAs are secreted by in vitro produced embryos into their respective culture media, and that these small RNAs are differentially expressed between conditioned media from embryos of differing development competence. We also fund that male and female embryos differentially secrete miRNAs via extracellular vesicles and that these secreted miRNAs serve as signals to the mother. Implications from these studies set the framework for future development of method for non-invasively surveying the developmental potential of embryos based on miRNA biomarkers.