Scientists Find Ideal IVF Embryo Profile
Posted on: Wednesday, 14 May 2008, 16:10 CDT
Researchers in Australia and Greece are making strides in determining which test-tube embryos carry the highest chance of being successfully implanted in the womb and growing into healthy infants.Currently, no method exists to predict which of these embryos will attach themselves in the womb and progress on to healthy pregnancies. As a result, couples often have multiple embryos implanted to improve the chances of pregnancy, something that can lead to complicated multiple pregnancies that risk endangering both the babies and the mother.
But the Australian scientists believe they may have discovered a profile that could help identify embryos that have a better chance of developing into healthy babies.
"Now, embryos are chosen on the basis of appearance, shape and regularity," Gayle Jones, senior research scientist at the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories and the study’s co-author, told Reuters.
"If we can just increase the predictive value by just 20 percent, it will be a massive bonus to encourage people to accepting (single) embryo transfer without a loss of pregnancy outcome," she said.
In the study, the scientists obtained "DNA fingerprints" by extracting 8 to 20 cells from embryos five days post-fertilization . These eggs were taken from 48 women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Greece, of whom 25 eventually became pregnant resulting in 37 babies.
The scientists later matched these DNA fingerprints with the babies, and discovered they all contained genes involved in cell communication, cell adhesion, response to stimuli and cellular metabolic processes.
"We believe that it will be possible to refine our gene set to a smaller number of genes that is more highly predictive of (an embryo's) viability and ability to develop to a term pregnancy when transferred to a receptive uterus than current selection criteria," said Jones, adding that the team hopes to narrow the list down to just 5 to 10 genes.
"The ability to select the single most viable embryo from within a cohort available for transfer will revolutionize the practice of IVF, not only improving pregnancy rates but eliminating multiple pregnancies and the attendant complications."
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On the Net:
The study was published in the journal Human Reproduction. The full report can be viewed here.
Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories
Source: redOrbit Staff and Wire Reports
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