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Scientists hail IVF breakthrough in non-invasive test that could slash 'big element of chance' involved in getting pregnant
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] They can grow brains, but not babies. SKYNET smiles.
Currently, the fertility treatment has a success rate of up to 40 per cent. Academics based at the University of California San Diego have now developed a new non-invasive that can assess the quality of lab-grown embryos. At present, fertility doctors typically have to carefully analyse embryos to pick out ones with the best chance of success. This can involve taking biopsies or visually assessing them, both of which can be problematic. The new technique, although still in its infancy, avoids interfering with the 'delicate process'. Particles of genetic material, known as exRNAs, are left behind in petri dishes used to grow eggs that have been fertilised in the lab. This allows scientists to inspect them without relying on biopsies of the embryos or visual characteristics. The researchers also identified around 4,000 different exRNA molecules for each of five different stages in an embryo’s development. Using this range of molecules they were then able to measure the morphology — the form, shape and structure — of the embryo as accurately as more invasive tests, they said. Professor Sheng Zhong, an expert in bioengineering from the university's school of enginerring, said: 'We were surprised by how many exRNAs were produced so early in embryonic development, and how much of that activity we could detect using such a minute sample. Posted by: Skidmark 2024-01-12 |
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