New technology can increase the success rate of test tube fertilization

A new low-cost genetic defect screening technique may improve the success rate of IVF. The first test-tube baby who used this technique to test embryos was born last month. It was a boy and he was very healthy.

Scientists said that this confirmed the feasibility of the new generation of genome screening concept, but this method requires more clinical trials before it is widely used.

The new technology uses modern, low-cost DNA sequencing to detect entire chromosomal abnormalities and specific genetic defects before embryo implantation into the uterus.

Only about 30% of in vitro fertilized embryos can be successfully implanted in the uterus. Chromosomal defects are the main cause of failure.

Other genetic screening methods have also appeared in the past decade, but researchers believe that this new method is much cheaper.

"Our cost is half or two-thirds of the current cost of chromosome screening," said Dagan Wells of Oxford University.

Wills will publish his research at the European Society for Human Genome and Embryology in London, which also includes test results with cells with known genetic defects.

The second woman who has undergone this screening process will also soon have a labor.

Stuart Lerffrey, director of the in-vitro pregnancy division at the Hammersmith Hospital in London, himself did not participate in the study, but highly evaluated the results of this study. He said that using the new genome sequencing technology to rapidly analyze large amounts of DNA is " Amazing scientific research."

"This gives us a very, very powerful tool for genetic diagnosis before implantation. It also allows us to be more confident in the face of human embryos with multiple genetic abnormalities," he told reporters.

But Leffrey added that randomized clinical trials are also needed to demonstrate the efficacy of this approach. Wells and his team plan to launch a clinical trial program later this year.

The problem of infertility is not uncommon. According to the statistics of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology, one in six couples in the world suffer from infertility.

"If further randomized trials confirm this, we have a strong economic basis to promote this technology - in the future, it may be used by most IVF recipients."

At present, in vitro fertilization embryo screening is mainly used for older mothers because of their greater risk of chromosomal abnormalities, and also for women with recurrent miscarriage.