Legislation for mitochondrial donation approved in UK (Focus on Reproduction, 2015 ESHRE, Lisbon)
7/27/2015 02:18:00 AM
Original source: Focus on reproduction ESHRE 2015 May, p17
Legislation to allow clinical trials of mitochondrial donation in couples know to be at high risk of passing on mitochondrial diseases to their children have been approved in the UK. (BBC New: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-31594856 ) The move follows votes in the UK's lower and upper Parliaments (the House of Commons and House of Lords) and means that the first trials could begin towards the end of this year. The trials are likely to be at the Wellcome Trust Center for Mitochondrial Research at Newcastle University, under the direction of Professor Doug Turnbull, which would need to apply for a research license from the HFEA, the UK/s regulatory authority. Professor Mary Herbert from the Newcastle group will review the tecniques of mitochondrial donation and replacement during the main programme of ESHRE's Annual Meeting in Lisbon (ESHRE 14th-17th, June, 2015).
Lab touring - Embryo biopsy (pipet shearing)
7/22/2015 02:39:00 AM
Video one:
Video two:
Biopsy is extremely crucial technique in IVF-PGS cycles. In Stork fertility center, for example, one in twenty to twenty-one biopsied samples may fail to be amplified. The videos showed one of the biopsy techniques — pipet shearing. In this kind of manipulation, both biopsied cell amount and quality are of the essences.
The biopsied sample in video one resulted in amplification failure, and the cells seemed degenerated yet. In contrast, biopsied sample in video two resulted in successful amplification.
Lab Touring - PGS, Preimplantation Genetic Screening by next-generation sequencig (NGS)
7/13/2015 01:27:00 AM
The traditional prenatal examinations include chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and amniocentesis. However, the induction would be required if either CVS or amniocentesis revealed significant chromosomal abnormalities, and it becomes psychological stress. Perimplantation Genetic Screening（PGS）is an advanced technology, combining IVF and cell molecular biology, taking the third day embryo (about 6-10 cells now) or the 5th day blastocyst cell for chromosome analysis. The widely used analysis platform is based on array comprehensive hybridization (aCGH), but the recent researches reported that the next-generation sequencing platform performs better resolution and sensitivity. In addition, the low-rate aneuploidy is displayed more clearly in the NGS than in the aCGH.