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Fertility in the news

There have been a few interesting stories in the news of late related to fertility treatments.  Here’s my wrap up.    For more frequently updated information – follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IVFTraveler

NGS – Next Generation Sequencing
A baby has been born using a new type of PGD PGS – genetic screening that can read the while genome of an embryo prior to transfer at a much lower cost than the current array CGH testing.  Will this be the new BIG thing in IVF?   http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/jul/07/ivf-baby-born-genetic-screening

Can Infertility Be Linked to Missing Immune Cells?
Australian researchers suspect that a lack of macrophages (immune cells) may play a role in infertility.  http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/07/09/3798293.htm#.UdwVqHUFDhE.twitter

A Study About the Motives of European Egg Donors
The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) Task Force on Cross-border Reproductive Care and European IVF Monitoring Consortium administered a questionnaire to 1423 egg donors from 60 clinics to see what motivated them to donate their eggs.  http://www.counselheal.com/articles/5978/20130708/why-women-donate-eggs-study-looks-european-egg-donors.htm

Is Bed Rest After IVF Harmful?
Researchers in Spain studied bed rest after IVF and found (albeit in a small sampling) that bed rest for 10 minutes after transfer did not improve success rates over patients who just get up and leave after an IVF transfer.  The pregnancy rates were similar in both groups, but the miscarriage rates were higher in the bedrest group (although statistically such a small sampling that it could be just contributed to chance).  Proponents of no bed rest think it may reduce stress for patients to be back to their daily routine.  http://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(13)00609-2/abstract

Is PGS with a day 3 biopsy harmful to embyo implantation? 
A recent study showed that a blastomere biopsy on day 3 of embryo development resulted in a significant reduction in implantation rates compared to non-biopsied embryos; whereas implantation rates after trophectoderm biopsy (at blastocyst stage) were nearly the same as non-biopsied.  They conclude that the blastocyst biopsy did not have a negative impact and could be safely used when a biopsy is indicated.
http://www.fertstert.org/article/PIIS0015028213005530/abstract?rss=yes

The Donor Conceived Kids Are Emotionally Okay
The June Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry published a study to determine how well adjusted children are when conceived following surrogacy, egg donation or sperm donation.  The moms of the children were surveyed when the children were age 3, 7, and 10 for signs of emotional adjustment problems. “There was no difference between children born through egg and sperm donation or children conceived naturally in terms of behavioral adjustment, the researchers found.”
http://www.today.com/health/new-study-tracks-emotional-health-surrogate-kids-6C10366818

Behavioral Epigenetics
Geneticists were surprised to find that epigenetic change can be passed down from parent to child.  They now have a hypothesis that if diet and chemicals can cause epigentic changes, can experiences – like child abuse, neglect or severe stress also set off epigenetic changes to the DNA? That became the basis of Behavioral Epigenetics and the study of treatments to heal the brain.
http://discovermagazine.com/2013/may/13-grandmas-experiences-leave-epigenetic-mark-on-your-genes?goback=.gde_2257249_member_247944408

 

 

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