'Most exciting breakthrough in IVF treatment in 30 years' could triple number of births

Thousands of infertile couples could benefit from a new IVF procedure that can dramatically improve the

Scientists believe they can double or even triple the proportion of healthy babies born as a result fertility treatment with a relatively simple technique that takes a series of time-lapse photographs of the developing IVF embryos.

On average only about 24 per cent of IVF embryos implanted into women in the UK lead to live births but the researchers believe this could be increased to 78 per cent using the new technique for selecting the best embryos.

“I believe it is the most exciting breakthrough we've had in probably 30 years,” said Professor Simon Fishel, managing director of the CARE Fertility Group, where the technique was developed.

“Every IVF practice in the world is unintentionally and unwittingly putting back into the womb unviable embryos that don't make babies,” Professor Fishel said.

“We hope to see a paradigm shift in terms of IVF. It's a game changer for everybody to have such an uplift in live birth rates. This is the beginning of something revelatory,” he said

Each year, licensed clinics in Britain carry out about 60,000 IVF treatments but most of them end in failure, causing immense emotional upset to couples, many of whom have paid between £5,000 and £10,000 for each treatment cycle.

The new procedure, which costs £750, identifies the best embryos to be implanted into the womb based on the time it has taken to develop between two key stages in the early life-cycle of the embryo.

Thousands of time-lapse pictures are taken during the first few days of an IVF embryo's life and these are used to identify the time between the first appearance of the fluid-filled cavity, called the blastula, and the final moment before the embryo “hatches” from its protective shell.

Scientists have discovered that when this period lasts longer than about six hours, the IVF embryo is likely to be carrying an abnormal number of chromosomes, called aneuploidy, which will lead to a failure of the pregnancy.

A preliminary study, published in the journal Reproductive Medicine Online and based on a retrospective analysis of 88 IVF embryos of 69 couples, found that the time-lapse technique could have improved the success rate of life births in this particular group of patients from 39 per cent to 61 per cent.

Even better success rates can be expected once the procedure is refined and applied to the wider population of infertile couples seeking IVF treatment, Professor Fishel said.

“Our work has shown that we can easily classify embryos into low or high risk of being chromosomally abnormal. This is important because in itself this is the largest single cause of IVF failure and miscarriage,” he said.

“The beauty of this technology is that the information is provided by a non-invasive process. So far we have seen a 56 per cent uplift compared to conventional technology, giving our patients the equivalent to a 78 per cent live-birth rate,” he added.

Normally, IVF embryos in an incubator are checked manually each day by embryologists but the time-lapse cameras are able to do this automatically by taking pictures every 10 minutes without interfering with embryo development, said Alison Campbell, embryology director at Care Fertility in Nottingham, who developed the computer algorithm controlling the analysis.

“With time-lapse we have the ability to view more than 5,000 images over the same time period to observe and measure more closely each stage of division and growth. As a result of continuous monitoring we have demonstrated that delays at defined points indicate abnormal development,” Ms Campbell said.

Martin Johnson, a fertility expert and editor of the journal where the work is published, said further “prospective” studies comparing the technique to existing methods of embryo selection are still needed before the procedure is recommended as standard treatment. “There are caveats with this research….and for these reasons we have to be cautious,” he said.

Sue Avery, director of Birmingham Women's Fertility Centre, said: “Unfortunately the study does not compare this exciting new approach with standard practise in embryology in which embryologists already look for the best embryos to place in the womb. Until the new technique is compared to current practise we cannot know whether different embryos are being chosen.”

Egg timing: Key stages

The developing embryo (image one, above) goes through two key stages when the fluid-filled cavity or “blastula” first forms (image two) and when the blastula is fully formed before the embryo “hatches” (image three).

The time between the two is used to judge whether the embryo is viable, with no defects in chromosome numbers. If the period is longer than six hours, the embryo is at high risk of abnormal chromosomes, which will inevitably lead to complications. Time-lapse photographs can indicate which embryos have a shorter time-period between these two points, and so which embryos are best for implantation into the womb.

New IVF breakthrough

Researchers have discovered that a chemical can trigger the maturation of small eggs to healthy, mature eggs in IVF treatment in the future.

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have discovered that a chemical can trigger the maturation of small eggs to healthy, mature eggs, a process that could give more women the chance of successful IVF treatment in the future. The results have been published in the revered journal PloS ONE.

Women and girls treated for cancer with radiotherapy and chemotherapy are often unable to have children as their eggs die as a result of the treatment.

Although it is now possible to freeze eggs and even embryos, this is not an option for girls who have yet to reach puberty. A better way of preserving their fertility is to freeze slices of ovarian tissue that contain small immature eggs, and subsequently mature these eggs so that they can be used in IVF treatment. Unfortunately there is, at present, no way of maturing small eggs in an artificial environment outside the body.

How the study was done

A research group led by professor Kui Liu at the University of Gothenburg has recently discovered that a chemical which inhibits the PTEN molecule can trigger the maturation of small eggs to form healthy, mature eggs.

Carrying out a study on mice, the researchers managed to produce five live young mice from eggs matured using this PTEN inhibitor to help the growth and maturation process.

The results have been published in PloS ONE and build on previous results published in Science, where the group showed that PTEN is a molecule that inhibits an egg's development.

"This discovery demonstrates that there is a realistic chance of being able to use PTEN inhibitors to

activate small eggs in a test tube," says Kui Liu, professor at the University of Gothenburg's Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology.

Methods used during study

Professor Kui Liu has led the study and is optimistic about the new method. "This technique is extremely valuable for those women who have only small eggs in their ovaries and cannot be helped by IVF as things stand," says Kui Liu.

Kui Liu's group demonstrated in the study that a short treatment with the PTEN inhibitor can trigger the growth of small eggs, and that this treatment makes it possible to produce plenty of mature eggs.

The results also show that healthy, live young can be born from treated eggs used in IVF. Not only were the young mice born fertile, they also showed no signs or symptoms of chronic disease at the age of 15 months, which equates to 70 human years.

Kui Liu is a professor of molecular biology and his group specialises in the study of molecular mechanisms that affect the development of female reproductive cells. His aim is to be able to use this method to help women.

"We hope to see this method being used clinically within five to ten years," says Kui Liu.

(EurekAlert, September 2012)

Source: health 24.com

Household chores can help IVF to succeed

Gardening, doing the housework or going for brisk walks can treble IVF success, according to researchers.

Women who led active lifestyles in the year leading up to their treatment were far more likely to conceive.

Scientists have been divided about whether exercise helps or hinders the chances of pregnancy, either naturally or with IVF.

Active: Gardening, doing the housework or going for brisk walks can treble IVF success, researchers say

 Research: Women who go for brisk walks are three times more likely to conceive than those who spend most of the day sitting down

While some studies have found that physical activity reduces fertility, others have found it improves it – or makes no difference.

Now scientists have found that women who do the housework, go for brisk walks or take other ‘moderate’ forms of exercise are three times more likely to conceive than those who spend most of the day sitting down.

The lifestyles of 87 women undergoing IVF were compared in the year leading up to their treatment.

The researchers gave the women a score depending on how much physical activity they did each day.

This did not necessarily have to be exercise but could include dusting, vacuuming, pushing the buggy or gardening.

The findings will be presented this week to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s annual conference in San Diego, California.

New IVF treatment boosts 42-year-olds’ odds of having baby to 60 pc

London, October 22 (ANI): US scientists have developed an IVF process that could give a woman in her early forties the same chance of becoming pregnant as a 32-year-old.

They claimed that the screening treatment could improve a 42-year-old’s odds of having a baby from 13 per cent to 60 per cent, the Daily Mail reported.

It works by picking only the embryos most likely to create a healthy foetus, slashing the odds of miscarriage.

Crucially, it also involves the embryos being frozen for at least a month after IVF to allow the woman’s reproductive organs to return to normal.

Scientists believe that the powerful fertility-boosting drugs given during IVF can harm the embryo if it is put into the womb too soon.
A woman aged 40 to 42 typically has a low chance of becoming pregnant with IVF and is unlikely to conceive naturally. But the researchers from Colorado said that their procedure could boost success rates to 60 per cent.

Patients will pay 2,000 pounds for the test, on top of a cycle of IVF costing 3,000 pounds to 4,000 pounds a course. The process has already been used on 1,200 women in the US.

Called comprehensive chromosome screening with vitrification, it involves taking a few cells from a blastocyst – an embryo just five or six days old.

An ideal blastocyst has 46 chromosomes – 23 each from the sperm and the egg. The wrong chromosome count reduces the odds of pregnancy – or ‘implantation’ – and raises the risk of miscarriage. Only if the cells have 46 chromosomes is the embryo frozen.

Some women will not have good enough embryos and will never become pregnant no matter how many times they have IVF. So, the scientists said the screening could spare them the heartache of further costly treatments.

” What we’ve been able to show is that a woman aged 38 to 42, if she has a blastocyst with a normal number of chromosomes, her chances of implantation are independent of her age. So she has the same chances of implantation – at 60 per cent – as a woman who is 32,” the paper quoted Dr Mandy Katz-Jaffe, from the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine, as saying.

Oxford academic Dr Dagan Wells, who helped develop the process, said freezing the embryo, known as cryopreservation, not only boosted the chances of pregnancy but also produced healthier babies.

He added: “The birth weight of the babies is essentially the same as babies conceived naturally, whereas embryos produced by IVF and transferred immediately, without cryopreservation, have a tendency to be of lower weight.”

The scientists will explain their new IVF treatment at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference in San Diego, California. (ANI)

EGGS RECREATED INVITRO TO TREAT INFERTILITY

Regenerative-medicine researchers have moved a promising step closer to helping infertile, premenopausal women produce enough eggs to become pregnant. Surgeons at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, reported that they were able to stimulate ovarian cell production using an in vitro rat model, and observed as the cells matured into very early-stage eggs that could possibly be fertilized. Results from this novel study were presented at the 2012 American College of Surgeons Annual Clinical Congress.

"While conventional hormone replacement therapy is able to maintain female sexual characteristics, it's unable to restore ovarian tissue function, which includes the production of eggs," the study's authors reported. Ovarian tissue function is critical for premenopausal women who desire to conceive.

Several fertility disorders can leave premenopausal women without an adequate amount of eggs. These disorders can also prevent a woman's ovaries from secreting enough of the hormones that stimulate egg production. Events such as ovarian operations, an injury, or radiation therapy for cancer can interfere with ovarian function, according to Anthony Atala, MD, FACS, director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and chair of the department of urology at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

Although the causes may vary, about 10 percent of childbearing-age women struggle with infertility,* meaning that these women try for at least one year but are not able to conceive. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the most common cause of infertility in premenopausal women is polycystic ovarian syndrome* - an imbalance of sex hormones. This disorder causes irregular ovulation and higher levels of male hormones in affected women.

According to Dr. Atala, the goal of this study was to spur the ovaries to produce the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone as well as stimulate egg production. The surgeons extracted ovarian cells from three-week old female rats, which would be equiva- lent to about 25 years old in humans. The cells were isolated in a culture of nutrient-dense growth factors for one week. Next, the cells were placed under a collagen gel that allows them to grow three dimensionally instead of in a single layer. The researchers then assessed cell growth, hormone production, and gene expression in the specimens.

In their early observations, the surgeons found immature oocytes protruding from clusters of ovarian cells. To help the oocytes mature, the surgeons developed a microwell system to keep oocytes inside clusters of ovarian cells. In humans, primordial germ cells or oogonium are the first stage of development into ovums, or mature eggs. The researchers also found that the cells expressed germ cell markers consistent with those of early stage eggs. They observed that the oocytes began to develop zona pellucida, a membrane that forms around an ovum as it develops, and showed a capacity to produce steroids similar to those produced by early stage eggs or follicles.

"Now, the goal is creating more mature structures that could actually be used for fertilization," Dr. Atala explained.

Dr. Atala and his colleagues believe that the newly generated oocytes would be able to mature to a certain stage in humans. The oocytes would then be put back into the female patient to go through natural ovulation and conception, or the oocytes would be fertilized in vitro and then implanted in the uterus. Dr. Atala said because ovarian cell function is restored, a woman using this procedure may be able to produce the necessary hormones and would not need addi-tional hormone replacement therapy.

Although the surgeons were able to generate early stage eggs in vitro, Dr. Atala cautions that the procedure has a while to go before it can be applied to humans: "This study represents the elementary, first stages of the research process," he said. "But we're showing the principle signs that this approach is a potential strategy for infertile women who want to have children," he concluded.

SOURCE: medicalnewstoday

Center for Human Reproduction More Than Doubles IVF Pregnancy Rates in Women Over 44

A New York fertility center is seeing an enormous increase in IVF success rates in older women told by other clinics that they could only get pregnant with donor eggs.

Center for Human Reproduction (CHR), a New York fertility center with special expertise in treating women with “older-behaving” ovaries, reported significantly improved ongoing clinical pregnancy rates for 2011 at practically all age groups. The improvement was, however, most pronounced in women above age 44 years, where the rate doubled from the previous year.
Pregnancy rates are calculated by dividing the number of clinical
pregnancies by that of embryo transfers. While most age groups saw increases in IVF pregnancy rates, the most dramatic improvement in pregnancy rates were observed in women at ages 44-49, where pregnancy rates increased to 10.3%.
“This pregnancy rate for women 44-49 is almost unbelievable, considering that patients at these ages, at most other IVF centers in the world, are no longer even given the chance of pregnancy with use of their own eggs and are usually advised to use donor eggs, “ notes David
H. Barad, MD, Director of Clinical ART at CHR. “These results reflect our
center’s fight for every egg and every embryo in older women seeking fertility treatment, based on the accumulated results of very active, decade-long research in how to successfully treat ‘older’ ovaries.”
In concentrating most of the center’s research on “older-behaving” ovaries, CHR developed many major clinical breakthroughs, like DHEA (androgen) supplementation, which has since become standard treatment around the world. CHR investigators also recently confirmed the importance of androgens (male hormones) for follicle and egg maturation.
“What makes these pregnancy rates even more remarkable are the patients in whom we achieved them,” adds Norbert Gleicher, MD, Medical Director and Chief Scientist of CHR. As a result of premature ovarian
aging (POA), even younger patients of CHR, in most cases, have
ovaries that behave like those of much older women.” Dr. Gleicher continues:
“The majority of our patients have previously failed IVF cycles elsewhere, and have been turned away by other fertility centers as
‘hopeless’ unless willing to use donor eggs. CHR was their fertility center of last resort. Achieving pregnancies at these rates in these women is practically unprecedented.”
About Center for Human Reproduction
The Center for Human Reproduction (CHR, http://www.centerforhumanreprod.com),
is one of the world’s leading fertility centers, with, currently, over half of
the center’s patients coming from outside the larger New York tristate area, approximately a quarter from overseas and Canada. CHR has a worldwide reputation as the "fertility center of last resort," specializing in treatment of infertility in women with diminished ovarian reserve due to advanced age or, in younger women, due to premature ovarian aging (POA).
Dr. Gleicher and Dr. Barad are available for further comments.
Communications Manager
Center for Human Reproduction
212-994-4400 .4491
Email Information
SOURCE: YAHOONEWS

Are IVF clinics hiding the risks of PGD from parents?

American couples who have pre-implantation genetic diagnosis
(PGD) done on their embryos are almost never informed of the potential risks of the procedure, a Wellesley College biologist claims in the Journal
of Medical Ethics.
Without this vital information, says Michelle LaBonte, parents are not capable of giving informed consent.
PGD, or embryo screening, has become a standard service in IVF clinics. A technician removes a cell from an 8-cell embryo and tests it for
defects. If it passes, it is implanted in the womb.
In a potentially explosive article, Dr LaBonte asserts that “In efforts to eliminate risk through the use of PGD, we may in fact be creating a new set of risks perhaps even more concerning than those we are trying to
avoid.” She bases her claims on a survey of the websites of the 262 US clinics offering PGD. She found that “86.6% of PGD-performing centres state that PGD is safe and/or fail to disclose any risks on their websites despite the fact that the impact of the procedure on the long-term health of offspring is unproven”.
IVF clinics have adopted the PGD technology for a wide range of uses -- from eliminating defective embryos to testing for genetic defects to
sex selection -- without a thorough understanding of the risks involved. She cites an IVF specialist who admitted ruefully that “[T]he babies that have
resulted aren't of reproductive age yet, and we don't know what sort of effects this technique has on the adult human… And I think that I consider it still experimental taking a cell from an embryo.”
She points out that this has happened before. For years amniocentesis was touted as completely safe until studies showed that there was an increased risk of spontaneous abortion.

Dr LaBonte speculates about why the risks of PGD are being
ignored. She gives six reasons:
* Parents were so concerned about the genetic disease of a first
child that they overlooked the risks of PGD for a second child.
* Doctors allayed the misgivings of parents.
* Parental choice trumps the dangers to the embryo: “Unlike ‘passive smokers,’ potential biopsied embryos are not in a position to seek regulation of this procedure.”
* Debate over the ethics of using PGD to create “designer babies” has
distracted parents’ attention from its safety.
* There have been no widely-publicised catastrophic failures yet.
* “The financial rewards of PGD represent a conflict of interest for
providers.”
Dr LaBonte concludes IVF clinics must inform their clients that PGD is still an unproven technology.
“prospective parents of PGD babies should be made aware of all
safety information, including that of human and animal studies, and be informed that long-term, definitive safety studies have not yet been carried out.
Anything less should not be considered ‘informed’ consent.”
Source: bioedge.org

Babies with three parents possible within three years

The child would inherit their identity from
their mother and father but would take their
mitochondrial DNA from the donor

Babies with three biological parents could be a reality within three years using an IVF technique which eradicates hereditary disease by using the undamaged DNA of a third party.
Researchers have secured £6m in funding to develop the groundbreaking treatment which could prevent genetic conditions affecting the heart, muscle or brain being passed on to children and future generations.
But the method is controversial because it involves transferring the parents' DNA into a donor egg, meaning the resulting child would inherit a tiny fraction of their genetic coding from a third party.
Regulations currently forbid scientists from implanting such eggs into patients.
SOURCE: telegraph.co.uk

Something New in Southeast Fertility Treatment: Low-Cost IVF

For those who desire to become parents, but have trouble getting pregnant, these are optimistic times. Advances in fertility medicine, such in vitro fertilization (IVF) and PGD (pre-implantation genetic diagnosis), provide new options that weren’t available in the past.
But all that advanced medicine comes with a price. IVF treatment can easily cost $25,000 and up, with no guarantee of success. That puts fertility treatment out of reach for many.
Two Georgia infertility specialists are hoping to change all that. Drs. Edouard Servy and Joe Massey founded the Servy Massey Fertility Institute (SMFI) in August 2011 with the belief that fertility treatment should be more accessible to all.
SMFI’s goal is to provide IVF treatment at reduced prices, offering initial in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles for only $6,575 – almost half the cost offered at many other clinics nationwide. The goal is to provide exceptional and affordable fertility care so patients can pursue their dream of having children.
Servy and Massey are both pioneers in reproductive endocrinology and the treatment of infertility, and have been helping patients build families for more than 30 years.
The Servy Massey Fertility Institute has locations in Atlanta and Augusta and works in collaboration with the Georgia Health Sciences University. The fertility docs say they are committed to eliminating hidden costs and unnecessary testing, recommending assisted reproduction only when conventional treatment fails or is not an option.
Sara and Kirby Yawn are just one family that found help at SMFI. The Yawns came face-to-face with infertility when Kirby was diagnosed with low sperm quality. Sara had already tried several treatments, including ovulation stimulation medication and a cycle of intrauterine insemination (IUI), but pregnancy seemed no closer for the Georgia couple.
Finally, Sara and Kirby met with Dr. Edouard Servy at the Augusta office to discuss in vitro fertilization (IVF).
“Dr. Servy reviewed our case and explained what he thought was the best option,” Sara says. “He was very thorough in helping us understand the entire process and was optimistic that our success rate would be high.”
In the past, the high cost of fertility treatment – especially IVF, one of the most expensive treatments – has been a barrier for many couples diagnosed with infertility. But with the creation of SMFI, Drs. Massey and Servy can work together to provide infertility solutions at affordable prices. The institute’s unique low cost program not only provides affordable treatment to hopeful couples, but continues to keep a high standard of quality and results.
“Because of the skill set required for a successful IVF procedure and the number of people involved, the cost of in vitro fertilization can be very pricey,” Dr. Massey explains. “At the Servy Massey Fertility Institute, we take pride in our expertise and never cut corners, but we also believe that everyone should have the opportunity to build a family. This is why we’ve taken great care to reduce costs wherever possible to offer affordable, low cost IVF.”
IVF is often one of the only ways for a couple diagnosed with infertility to achieve pregnancy, but has a high success rate – one of the reasons the SMFI team decided to pursue a low-cost IVF program.
For Sara and Kirby Yawn, IVF was just what they needed. After a few months of treatment, the couple found out they were pregnant. Lilian Grace Yawn was born the next year.
“We named her Lilian, which means pure, innocence and beauty, and Grace, which is a blessing from God,” Sara says. Although they know having more children may not be easy, for now Kirby and Sara are thankful to have one of their biggest dreams – parenthood – come true.

SOURCE: 2whbf.com

DuoFertility Or IVF For Infertile Couples?

duo fertility monitor

A new study published in European Obstetrics & Gynaecology (European Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 2011;6(2):92-4) shows that DuoFertility used for six months (a small body-worn monitor coupled with an expert consultancy service) gives the same chance of pregnancy as a cycle of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) for many infertile couples. This study demonstrates that there is a viable non-invasive, drug-free alternative to IVF for thousands of couples, with the potential to save them (and the NHS) millions of pounds each year. The paper, by Chausiaux et al, is the first peer-reviewed publication of clinical pregnancy rates using the new DuoFertility product and service. The lead author, Dr. Oriane Chausiaux, has been researching infertility for over a decade in Paris and Cambridge. Summarising the results, she said "Although we have been observing higher than anticipated pregnancy rates with this programme for some time, and reporting this at academic conferences, this is the first study with sufficient statistical power to meet the stringent criteria of the peer review publication process. The results show that for couples suffering from unexplained infertility as well as a variety of other factors, six months using DuoFertility is as effective as a cycle of IVF and twelve months using DuoFertility yields a higher clinical pregnancy rate than a cycle of IVF - even at the 95% confidence level". The study followed the first 500 couples using DuoFertility from launch in 2009, including 242 who qualified for IVF/ICSI treatment, of whom 90 had previously had the procedure. The one-year clinical pregnancy rate for those who qualified for IVF was 39%, which is higher than either the UK or EU clinical pregnancy rates for a cycle of IVF (26% and 28% respectively), whilst the corresponding rate for those who had already been through a cycle of IVF/ICSI was 28%. The impact of the study by Chausiaux et al is clear. For many couples, not only is IVF invasive for the woman and demeaning for the man, it is a procedure needlessly costing the NHS, or the couple themselves, thousands of pounds. Whilst a typical cycle of IVF costs the NHS around £4,500 including drugs and consultancy, the cost in the private sector (which accounts for 80% of IVF procedures performed in the UK) is typically £7,000. By comparison the DuoFertility program offers a year of monitoring and support for £495 and has now been shown to be equally or more likely to achieve pregnancy. Not only this, but the company offers to refund those couples who have not achieved pregnancy after a year of using DuoFertility as directed - a guarantee that caught the attention of TV 'dragon' Theo Paphitis and and Boots, the UK's leading pharmacy-led health and beauty retailer, resulting in the product being stocked by Boots after appearing on the BBC documentary series "Britain's Next Big Thing" earlier this year. The publication coincides with reaching the 200th reported pregnancy by users of DuoFertility, which was celebrated with a party hosted by medical personality Dr. Miriam Stoppard. Dr. Stoppard, addressing the assembled parents and parents-to-be, said "[it is] the first product or service that I have seen in this arena which truly wraps around all of the needs of the couple, from the medical monitoring, to the review of this data by experts, and then the all-important emotional support that is provided."..."The results of the scientific studies on pregnancy rate are very encouraging, but do need to be followed up with live birth rates, and I look forward to seeing further research." IVF and assisted reproductive technologies have been in the spotlight recently with a damning report from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Infertility. The report showed that fewer than one-quarter of NHS Primary Care Trusts are providing the number of IVF cycles recommended by the NHS guidelines, and that there is widespread evidence of PCTs adding extra conditions on infertile couples that prevent them obtaining treatment. Gareth Johnson, MP leading the group, said "One in Seven couples in the UK suffer from infertility problems, indeed more women attend GP surgeries to obtain advice on infertility than any issue other than pregnancy. This shows just how big an issue infertility is for so many people". It is perhaps not surprising therefore that Cambridge Temperature Concepts, the company behind DuoFertility, was recently recognised at Downing St as one of nine innovative small businesses to help reduce costs in the public sector through the Cabinet Office Innovation Launchpad programme. The study authors caution that although non-invasive and drug-free, DuoFertility is not suitable for all couples. Dr. Husheer, inventor of DuoFertility explained "although DuoFertility is suitable for around 80% of infertile couples, there are some couples with medically identified conditions that prevent natural conception, such as a woman with two blocked fallopian tubes. In these cases IVF is absolutely the right thing to do, enabling conception where it was previously a physical impossibility."
source: medicalnewstoday

Palm Beach Fertility Center Now Offering Treatment Regimen Featuring Acupuncture Alongside IVF

The Palm Beach Fertility Center has recently announced that they are now offering a new form of treatment for couples that have been unable to conceive a child naturally. The experienced medical specialists within the facility have developed a treatment regimen that combines the benefits of acupuncture and IVF to increase the chances of a successful pregnancy.

This additional service is the result of a new study within the field that suggests that women who paired their IVF treatment with acupuncture had a 65% greater chance of becoming pregnant through the treatment. This study was released through the reputable and established British Medical Journal and included 114 women who had been approved for IVF treatment. It found that, of the women who received acupuncture, there were fewer miscarriages, more pregnancies and a 7% higher birth rate than those who did not receive the acupuncture treatment.

This study was founded upon previous research by the same medical team in which they studied 147 women who had responded poorly to IVF treatment. This previous study found that the pregnancy rate was 40%, with 11% more babies born for those who received acupuncture during their scheduled IVF treatment.

Renowned worldwide fertility treatment experts such as Raymond Chang of New York’s Meridian Medical Group have been using acupuncture within their fertility treatments for the past decade and have experienced great success.

"Acupuncture provides better circulation and better blood flow to the womb. It will give a better chance for the eggs to be nourished and therefore carried." - Dr. Raymond Chang, Director of New York's Meridian Medical Group

Now, with this additional treatment offering through the Palm Beach Fertility Center, many women from across the South Florida area will have an increased opportunity to conceive a child of their own.

SOURCE: PR.COM

Heavier women may have less IVF success

The heavier a woman is, the more trouble she may have getting pregnant and having a baby through in vitro fertilization, or IVF -- and may lose the baby more often, according to a U.S. study.

Researchers led by Barbara Luke of Michigan State University found that women who were overweight or obese were less likely to become pregnant using fertility treatments than normal-weight women.

Past studies have also hinted at worse IVF outcomes in heavier women, although they don't prove that the extra weight is directly responsible for the reproductive troubles those women experience.

"Treatment and pregnancy failures with increasing obesity significantly increased starting with overweight women," Luke and her colleagues wrote in Fertility and Sterility.

They drew data from a reporting system that includes more than 90 percent of IVF treatments done in the United States -- information on 150,000 fertility treatment cycles done in 2007 and 2008 at 361 different clinics.

For each cycle, the reporting system included whether the cycle was canceled, if it led to a pregnancy, and whether that pregnancy ended early in a miscarriage or stillbirth, or if the woman gave birth to a live baby. For most cycles, it also had data on women's height and weight before starting treatment.

From the beginning through the end of fertility treatment, heavy women saw poorer results.

"We know that being overweight and obese is not good (for IVF), it's just how bad is it and where are the bad effects?" said Brian Cooper of Mid-Iowa Fertility in Clive, who wasn't involved in the study.

About nine percent of cycles in normal-weight women were stopped early, compared to 16 percent of cycles in the heaviest women -- those with a body mass index over 50, which is equivalent to a 1.6 meter (5 foot 5 inch) woman who weighs over 136 kg (300 pounds).

Normal weight women had a 43 percent chance of getting pregnant during each cycle using their own, fresh eggs for IVF, compared to 36 percent for very heavy women. Rates for overweight and less obese women fell in between.

For women who did get pregnant, the trend continued, with the heaviest about twice as likely as normal-weight women to lose the baby in many cases.

For overweight and obese women trying to get pregnant, even a little bit of weight loss helps, said Howard McClamrock, an infertility specialist at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.

"This is what we're constantly faced with: ideally she might like to lose weight, but she might not have that much time," added McClamrock, who was not involved in the study.

Though he noted that research has been pointing more and more toward a connection between extra weight and worse IVF outcomes, the reason is unclear.

One explanation is that extra fat tissue releases estrogen, which fools the brain into thinking the ovaries are working when they really aren't, so it doesn't do its part to kick the ovaries into gear, Cooper said.

Luke and her colleagues said that thin and heavy women may have different causes of infertility, though they added that they did not have data on lifestyle factors that may affect IVF success, or any data on the male partners.

Thin and normal-weight women generally had higher rates of endometriosis, in which cells from the lining of the womb grow on other organs. Polycystic ovary syndrome, where the ovaries become enlarged and contain several small cysts, were more common in very heavy women.

Cooper said that weight still isn't as big an issue for fertility as age, or whether a woman smokes.

"Weight isn't everything, but it's an important factor that we have control over. Fix it now, because even a little bit (of weight loss) can make a big difference," he added. SOURCE: bit.ly/pjwsra

(Reporting by Genevra Pittman at Reuters Health; editing by Elaine Lies)

Fertility Meds Work, Stress Or Not

Stressed by the fact that you are trying to get pregnant? Not to worry, the stress you are experiencing won't impact the effectiveness of the fertility drugs you may be taking, so don't sweat it. Stress and tension don't decrease the success of a woman's fertility treatment, a new study suggests.

Three and a half thousand women that took fertility treatments were surveyed in 14 studies for the presence of stress and anxiety compared to levels before they begun treatments. Many women believe that emotional distress can reduce their chances of becoming pregnant naturally or having success with fertility treatments, but the researchers say that's a mistaken idea based on anecdotal evidence and myths.

The results proved that there is no association between emotional distress and the likelihood of becoming pregnant.

Jacky Boivin, a professor in the School of Psychology at Cardiff University in Wales states:

"These findings should reassure women that emotional distress caused by fertility problems or other life events co-occurring with treatment will not compromise their chance of becoming pregnant."

Health experts say that about 15 percent of couples are infertile. Infertility means not being able to get pregnant after one year of trying. Or, six months, if a woman is 35 or older. Women who can get pregnant but are unable to stay pregnant may also be infertile.

Infertility treatment can be physically uncomfortable, time-consuming, exhausting, and costly, all without a guarantee of success. The infertility experience for many can range from multiple diagnostic procedures through progressively more aggressive treatment options, all of which impose demands upon the emotional and physical self. It's no wonder that many women experience severe stress, depression, or anxiety during treatment for infertility.

Medical treatment of infertility generally involves the use of fertility medication, medical device, surgery, or a combination of these.

If the sperm are of good quality and the mechanics of the woman's reproductive structures are good (patent fallopian tubes, no adhesions or scarring), physicians may start by prescribing a course of ovarian stimulating medication. The physician may also suggest using a conception cap cervical cap, which the patient uses at home by placing the sperm inside the cap and putting the conception device on the cervix, or intrauterine insemination (IUI), in which the doctor introduces sperm into the uterus during ovulation, via a catheter. In these methods, fertilization occurs inside the body.

If conservative medical treatments fail to achieve a full term pregnancy, the physician may suggest the patient undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF). IVF and related techniques (ICSI, ZIFT, GIFT) are called assisted reproductive technology (ART) techniques.

ART techniques generally start with stimulating the ovaries to increase egg production. After stimulation, the physician surgically extracts one or more eggs from the ovary, and unites them with sperm in a laboratory setting, with the intent of producing one or more embryos. Fertilization takes place outside the body, and the fertilized egg is reinserted into the woman's reproductive tract, in a procedure called embryo transfer.

In 2007 the FDA cleared the first at home tier one medical conception device to aid in conception. The key to the kit are cervical caps for conception. This at home insemination method allows all the semen to be placed up against the cervical os for six hours allowing all available sperm to be placed directly on the cervical os. For low sperm count, low sperm motility, or a tilted cervix using a cervical cap will aid in conception.

SOURCE:MEDICAL NEWS TODAY

Assisted Reproductive Technology: Uterine Health More Important Than Egg Quality

For women seeking pregnancy by assisted reproductive technologies, such as in-vitro fertilization (IVF), a new study shows that the health of the uterus is more relevant than egg quality for a newborn to achieve normal birth weight and full gestation. This study, published in Fertility and Sterility, an international journal for obstetricians, offers new information for women with infertility diagnoses considering options for conceiving.

The study was conducted by Dr. William Gibbons, director of The Family Fertility Program at Texas Children's Hospital and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine, along with colleagues at the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies (SART) Marcelle Cedars, MD and Roberta Ness, MD. They reviewed three years of data that compared average birth weight and gestational time for single births born as a result of standard IVF, IVF with donor eggs and IVF with a surrogate. While the ability to achieve a pregnancy is tied to egg/embryo quality, the obstetrical outcomes of birth weight and length of pregnancy are more significantly tied to the uterine environment that is affected by the reason the woman is infertile.

There were more than 300,000 IVF cycles during the time of the study producing more than 70,000 singleton pregnancies.

"This is the first time that a study demonstrated that the health of a women's uterus is a key determinant for a fetus to obtain normal birth weight and normal length of gestation," said Dr. Gibbons. "While obvious issues of uterine fibroids or conditions that alter the shape of the uterus are suspected to affect pregnancy rates, conditions that result in poorer ovarian function to the point of needing donor eggs are not known. Further research is needed to fully understand this complex issue."

As assisted reproductive technologies (ART) in the U.S. mature, increasing attention is directed not just to pregnancy rates but also to the obstetrical outcomes of those resulting pregnancies - meaning the newborn's birth weight, health and gestational age. Currently, about one percent of U.S. births are the result of ART therapies such as IVF, donor eggs, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, embryo cryopreservation, embryo donation, preimplanation genetic diagnosis, and male infertility surgery and medical therapy.

The study explored several scenarios and found that the birth weight associated with standard IVF - in which the patient carried the embryo created with her own egg - was greater than that associated with donor egg cycles, and less than that in gestational carrier cycles. This finding held true even when other factors were considered showing that the woman's own uterus may be a determining factor.

Gibbons said the study also determined that a diagnosis of male infertility did not affect birth weight or gestational age, yet every female infertility diagnosis was associated with lower birth weight and a reduced gestational age.

Patients diagnosed with a uterine health issue, such as fibroids or other factors, had babies with the lowest birth weights and gestational ages. This led the researchers to examine the uterine environment as it relates to the type of therapy being considered.

Gibbons explains that in standard IVF, an embryo is transferred to a woman who has just undergone controlled ovarian hyperstimulation, while in donor egg IVF and gestational carrier IVF, the embryo is transferred to a "natural" or unstimulated uterus. Then, the researchers looked at IVF utilizing frozen embryo transfer in which an embryo created with a patient's own egg is transferred to her own unstimulated uterus. They found that babies born of frozen embryo transfer cycles had markedly greater birth weights than those born as a result of standard IVF.

"That finding may help women seeking pregnancy and their physicians to consider frozen embryo transfer as a possible option if the uterine health is not a consideration," said Gibbons. "This study shows us how so many factors are related to a successful outcome and we continue to learn where further research may be needed."

source:medicalnews today

Delaware Fertility Centre Overcomes Miscarriages and IVF failures

Major advances utilizing embryo genetic testing with in vitro fertilization (IVF) technology have led to many new and expectant families, as reported by Reproductive Associates of Delaware (RAD) in their recent presentation at the October national meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in Denver, CO.

"This is a milestone of progress," noted Ronald F. Feinberg MD, PhD, the Center's IVF Medical Director. "We have merged our latest IVF techniques with successfully testing all 24 chromosomes within an embryo before it is placed back in the mother's uterus."

RAD's study demonstrated that almost 50% of 167 well developed and normal-appearing blastocyst embryos contained major chromosome defects, all of which were incompatible with normal pregnancy. The technology was applied to 26 patients who had previously suffered with miscarriage, unexplained infertility, and/or prior IVF failure. Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS) with blastocyst trophectoderm biopsy was the technique utilized.

Following PGS, 71% of patients who were found to have at least one normal embryo achieved a successful pregnancy to date, despite previously negative outcomes and poor prognosis. One RAD patient that had never been pregnant had very few normal embryos via PGS. However, she successfully delivered healthy twins earlier this year after having two normal embryos biopsied via PGS and later placed in her uterus. All of the other PGS pregnancies at RAD have been singletons, following placement of just one normal embryo.

"We likely have a new and important reason for offering IVF and PGS to patients with infertility, prior IVF failure, and miscarriage", said Marc Portmann, Director of Lab Technology and Innovation at the RAD Center, who was also the lead author of the study. "This advance in IVF is of great significance because it will improve success rates, foster increased confidence in single embryo transfer, and will lower costs and risks of IVF." Many authorities within the field believe PGS could be applied to all patients undergoing IVF, but the larger benefits need to be fully evaluated.

Though many consider IVF and PGS to be expensive treatments, RAD's physicians believe this should be weighed against other factors, such as the health, emotional, and societal costs associated with infertility and miscarriage. High risks and costs of multiple gestations caused by other suboptimal treatments, including the transfer of multiple embryos during typical IVF procecures, must also be considered.

Approximately 15-20% of reproductive age women and men attempting pregnancy have infertility, a miscarriage history, or have experienced both.

source:sfgate.com

New Method Could Make IVF More Effective

Researchers using a microscope and time-lapse photography believe they have developed a method for predicting which test-tube embryos are the most likely to develop properly, and are licensing development of a commercial test.
Their findings, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, also provide some new insights into the development of days-old embryos, such as how babies inherit some genes from the mother and some from the father.
They said the new test could help fertility clinics pick the best embryo to implant in the womb.
This would save mothers from having several treatments and help improve on the current method of implanting multiple embryos to try to get one pregnancy and risk multiple births in the process.
"Our results shed light on human embryo development," wrote Renee Reijo Pera of Stanford University in California and colleagues. "Our methods and algorithms may provide an approach for early diagnosis of embryo potential in assisted reproduction."
So called test-tube babies are conceived by uniting egg and sperm in a lab dish and transferring the embryo into a woman's uterus to develop. Most do not develop properly and labs have been looking for ways to improve their success rate.
Although it is not recommended, some IVF clinics will implant more than one embryo into the mother's womb -- leading to the birth of triplets, quadruplets and even more. Such babies almost always are born too early and face lifelong health problems.
All pregnancies are tenuous, even those achieved the old fashioned way. The March of Dimes, a charity founded to battle birth defects, estimates that as many as 50 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage -- most often before a woman knows she is pregnant.
For the new test the researchers watched embryos divide and develop from the time sperm met egg in a lab dish. As the embryos split and grew, they also tested gene expression -- looking at which genes activated, and when.
To their surprise, they found that almost from the very beginning some of the handful of cells had different sets of active genes.
An embryo's fate -- whether it would develop normally or not -- seemed determined in many cases from the moment of conception and relied heavily on the mother's egg cell, they found.
Embryos most likely to form a ball of cells called a blastocyst developed at a certain, measurable rate, they found.
Auxogyn, Inc., a privately held medical technology company, said in a statement it had acquired an exclusive license from Stanford University to develop products related to the findings.
"Blastocyst formation is a critical time point in human embryo development and provides more objective criteria for selecting which embryo(s) to transfer," Lissa Goldenstein, president and CEO of Auxogyn, said in a statement.
"For years, researchers have searched for ways to predict the embryos most likely to reach the blastocyst stage in order to enable earlier transfer and ultimately improve live birth rates for in vitro fertilization procedures."
The company estimates that there are 500 clinics in the United States providing in vitro fertilization or IVF services, with combined annual revenues of nearly $2 billion.

SOURCE: REUTERS

IVF treatment: 66-year-old childless woman gives birth to triplets •As world’s oldest mum says she is dying from IVF complications

A 66-year-old Indian woman has become the oldest person in the world to give birth to triplets after IVF treatment at a controversial centre.
Childless Bhateri Devi gave birth to two boys and a girl –– who are now being treated in intensive care after being born dangerously underweight.

Mrs Devi received IVF treatment at the National Fertility Centre in Haryana –- where the world’s oldest mum, Rajo Devi Lohan, was also treated.
However, the doctors said the triplets, weighing 2 pounds 6 ounces, 2 lbs 4 ounces and 1pound 7 ounces, were being monitored in the intensive care unit of the centre.
Mrs Lohan, 72, who gave birth 18 months ago aged 70, has revealed she is dying –– and hit out at the centre for not explaining the risks to women about having babies later in life.
However, officials at the centre proudly boasted of their latest achievement.
Dr Anurag Bishnoi, who supervised Mrs Devi’s treatment, said: “According to the birth certificate issued by a government hospital in Rohtak district, Bhateri Devi was born on May 21, 1944 in Madina village of Rohtak.
“This birth is authentic and therefore she has become the oldest mother in the world to give birth to triplets so far.
“Bhateri Devi was coming to us for the last months for the treatment. She has become a mother for the first time and conceived only in our third attempt through IVF technique.
“For the first two attempts, only two embryos were transferred in each cycle.
“But in third attempt three embryos were transferred in her uterus, resulting in the birth of three children by caesarean.’
Mrs Devi’s husband of 44 years, Deva Singh, 64, said he was ecstatic at becoming a father for the first time.
“Bhateri has fulfilled my dream of having a child and gave my family an heir.” he said.
‘She was my first wife and after she failed to conceive a child, I married twice but again I did not have any child from my other wives also.
“I am very happy and I will provide all the best facilities to my children in the coming years.”

In November 2008, 70-year-old Mrs Lohan made headlines after she gave birth to a girl through IVF technique at the same centre.
She and her husband, Balla, 73, are uneducated farmers who said they did not understand the risk of having a baby at such an old age

Is IVF Good Value For Money?

Children conceived by Medically Assisted Reproduction (MAR) have fiscal implications for government both in terms of future government spending and tax revenue. Based on public funding to conceive a MAR child - after factoring in education, future health and pension costs, and future tax contributions of this child - the discounted net tax revenue (the difference between future government spending and tax revenue) of a child born in 2005 is roughly 127,000 euros in today's value.

Considering an average treatment cost of approximately 15,000 euros to conceive an IVF-child, this represents an 8-fold return on investment (ROI) for governments [1]. While the costs of MAR treatment represent a substantial proportion of a patient's annual disposable income, MAR typically represents less than 0.25% of total national healthcare expenditure. By comparison, obesity accounts for 10% and 2-4% of total health care spending in the US and Europe respectively.

MAR treatments elicit significant medical, reproductive and economic influence in developed countries with 3.5 million children estimated to have been born worldwide since 1978. These children make up a substantial proportion of national births with up to 4.1% in Denmark and 3.3% in Belgium. In the US, Europe, and Oceania over 600,000 treatment cycles resulted in 120,000 children being born in 2005. The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) Task Force on 'Reproduction and Society' reviewed the economics of MAR to evaluate the benefits of funding of MAR for society and to inform policy makers on effective, safe and equitable financing of MAR. Dr. Mark Connolly and colleagues who published this review paper in the journal Human Reproduction Update based their findings on key epidemiological and economic studies. Affordability of IVF is one of the main drivers of treatment utilisation, choice of treatment, and embryo transfer practices which ultimately influence the multiple birth rate and infant outcomes.

Although the poorer clinical outcomes are well known, the indirect costs and hence the economic burden associated with MAR multiple birth children - which may extend well beyond the perinatal period - are less appreciated. Lack of affordable treatment may force patients and clinicians to opt for cheaper fertility treatments such as stimulated intrauterine insemination and ovulation stimulation which have less controllable means of minimising multiple births. If treatment is appropriately funded, there is less of a financial incentive to achieve pregnancy in a limited number of cycles. Additionally, restricted treatment and limited financial access coerces some patients to seek cross border reproductive treatment in countries where cheaper or less restrictive treatments are offered. The ESHRE Task Force on 'Cross Border Reproductive Care' showed in a recent survey that, of those patients that sought cross border reproductive care, only 13% received partial reimbursement and 4% total reimbursement in their own country. Different standards of care and less responsible embryo transfer practices are amongst the risks patients' face when going abroad

IVF HOPE AFTER BRITISH BREAKTHROUGH ON EMBRYO SCREENING TECHNIQUE

baby oliver with simon fishel

The first baby conceived with the help of a new egg screening technique which could offer hope to women for whom IVF has repeatedly failed has been born.
Oliver was born to a 41-year-old woman who had had 13 failed IVF treatments.
The new screening method, developed in Nottingham, allows a rapid analysis of the genetic material in fertilised eggs to check for chromosomal abnormalities.
The British Fertility Society said the technique was promising but that more research was needed.
Professor Simon Fishel, who led the team, said Oliver's arrival showed that the test could help couples who have repeatedly failed to become pregnant.
"All the team have been waiting for this very special baby to be born.
"Oliver's birth is an important landmark in shaping our understanding of why many women fail to become pregnant.
"Up to half of the eggs in younger women and up to 75% in women over 39 are chromosomally abnormal.
Array Comparative Genomic Hybridisation is used to screen eggs or embryos in an IVF cycle, evaluate all the chromosomes and select the most chromosomally normal embryos."
Before an egg is fertilised, it ejects half of its own set of chromosomes to leave space for the chromosomes coming from the father's sperm.
Miscarriages
These "spare" chromosomes are kept in a structure on the edge of the cell known as the "polar body".
Array CGH involves extracting the polar body and looking to see if there are too few or too many chromosomes.
It is believed that two out of three women fail at each IVF attempt because of chromosomal abnormalities in the implanted egg.
The team at Care Fertility Clinic have found a way of speeding the analysis of the genetic material they extract.
Two years ago US scientists announced that 18 women had given birth after having their eggs screened using a similar technique.
But in those cases the resulting embryos had to be frozen and re-implanted later.
The Nottingham team can get the results back in 24 hours which means that the mother can undergo IVF in the same cycle of treatment.
Oliver's parents had 13 previous failed IVF cycles and three miscarriages.
Eight eggs were tested and only two found to be chromosomally normal. One of those produced Oliver.
Great hope
British Fertility Society chairman Tony Rutherford said the technology offered much promise but the widespread use of it should await the outcome of further rigorous research.
He said there was no compelling evidence yet that pre-implantation genetic screening (PGS) tests, in which embryos are looked at for genetic abnormalities before they are implanted in the womb, improved the pregnancy rate or live birth rate.
He said: "All too often we see groundbreaking news about techniques that seem to offer great hope, but fail to live up to expectations when applied in widespread clinical practice."
Professor Peter Braude, head of the department of women's health at King's College London, said he was delighted that the mother had achieved her positive outcome after so many years of trying but he too sounded a note of caution.
"At the moment this can only be viewed as a potentially very lucky result," he said.
Stuart Lavery, a consultant gynaecologist and director of IVF at Hammersmith Hospital in London, said: "This technique is a very poweful tool that may allow us to detect which embryos of the many produced in an IVF cycle have the best chance of implantation and resulting in a birth.
"Clearly this is very early days, and our optimism needs to be tempered with caution until we have more evidence of the technique's safety and effectiveness.
"My own unit at the Hammersmith has recently been given an HFEA licence for microarray CGH and we look forward to contributing to this promising new field."
SOURCE: BBC.CO.UK

Controversial egg modification technique could increase IVF success in older women

A controversial new technique to improve the quality of eggs from older women undergoing IVF is being developed by Japanese scientists.

Because the procedure involves using eggs from two women to create a single viable egg for fertilisation, it has sparked a media furore over the potential creation of what have been inaccurately dubbed 'three-parent embryos'.
The success rate of IVF declines dramatically as the age of the woman undergoing the procedure increases. One of the reasons for this is thought to be the accumulation of abnormalities in the cytoplasm (the jelly-like substance that surrounds a cell's nucleus) of eggs from older women. Researchers at the St Mother Hospital in Kitakyushu, Japan, took the nucleus out of an egg cell from an older woman undergoing IVF and transplanted into an egg donated by a younger woman (under the age of 35) which had first had its nucleus removed. The resulting egg had the nucleus from the older woman but the cytoplasm from the younger woman.
The research team presented their results at the American Society for Reproductiove Medicine meeting in Atlanta, Georgia in October 2009. Out of 31 eggs on which the procedure was performed, 25 appeared to have transplanted successfully and looked healthy and so were used for fertilisation. Out of these 25 eggs, seven (28 per cent) formed early-stage embryos after being injected with sperm. This was a dramatic improvement on the usual three per cent success rate for the fertilisation of eggs from older women.
In this case, the embryos were not implanted back into women, but team leader Dr Atsushi Tanaka told New Scientist magazine: 'If we could transfer these constructed new embryos, I believe the success rate would be high'.
Although the vast majority of human DNA is contained inside the nuclei of cells, a handful of genes - just 37 genes out of around 25,000 genes in total - are found in the mitochondria, tiny structures that exist in the cytoplasm and provide power to cells. The embryos created by Dr Tanaka and his team would inherit only these 37 genes from the younger donor of the empty egg and cytoplasm, and their remaining 25,000 or so genes from the woman who donated the egg's nucleus and the man who donated the sperm. For this reason, a similar technique of nuclear transfer has been proposed in order to enable women who have severe genetic disorders associated with mitochondrial genes to have children of their own without passing on their condition.
The use of this technique on eggs intended for implantation is currently banned in the UK. However, the new Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act recognises what it calls the 'devastating effects' of mitochondrial diseases and will allow for secondary legislation to sanction treatment of mitochondrial diseases should therapies be developed.
SOURCE: BIONEWS.ORG.UK