In Vitro fertilization: choose the best!
A child was born, with artificial conception of which a new technique was used
Elvira Koshkina, Compulenta
In the UK, the first child was born, at the conception of which a new technology of genetic scanning was used.
The boy, who was named Oliver, was born to a 41-year-old woman. Thirteen times in vitro fertilization (IVF) of her eggs failed. Three times the "planting" of the obtained embryos ended in miscarriages.
A new genetic scanning technique has been developed by scientists from the Nottingham Infertility Clinic, led by Professor Simon Fishel. The technology allows for a quick analysis of the genetic material of a fertilized egg for the presence of chromosomal pathologies. According to Mr. Fishel, half of the eggs in young women and up to 75% in ladies over the age of 39 have chromosomal abnormalities.
In the process of maturation, the egg throws out half of the genome to make room for sperm chromosomes. The duplicated genes go into the so-called polar body, which is located at the edge of the egg. The problem is that the egg can get rid of both diseased genes and healthy ones. If an egg lacks a chromosome, the embryo may not be viable, and if it contains an extra chromosome, fertilization may fail, or the embryo will inherit genetic diseases.
A new technique – Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) – allows you to check eggs and embryos during IVF, assess the condition of all chromosomes and select the most complete embryos from a chromosomal point of view. A hole is made at the edge of the egg with a laser, after which the polar body is sucked out with a pipette. The analysis of the taurus gives scientists the opportunity to find out which chromosomes remained in the egg – normal or defective, and whether it contains a sufficient number of chromosomes. The whole procedure takes 24 hours.
Doctors believe that two out of three women IVF attempts fail because the embryos implanted by them are not viable due to chromosomal pathologies. Of the eight eggs taken from Oliver's mother, only two turned out to be normal. Oliver emerged from one of them.
Scientists hope that CGH technology will help significantly increase the chances of infertile couples to conceive, and will also reduce the number of multiple pregnancies that often occur during infertility treatment.
Prepared based on the materials of the BBC.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru03.09.2009