Prof. Carlos Simon, Scientific Director at Igenomix, is one of the researchers taking part in this study.
Scientists from Igenomix, University of Valencia, Stanford University and Oregon Health & Science University (OSHU) have discovered that it is possible to predict if a human embryo is going to be chromosomally normal or abnormal within the first 30 hours after the union of the nuclei of an egg and a sperm, and ensure the success of the pregnancy. It has been proven that, during this time, a group of genes controls the movement of the chromosomes causing the embryos to be normal or abnormal.
This discovery, published in the journal Nature Communications1, could improve the success rates of IVF treatments, which are around 30% – 35% worldwide. These low rates are mainly due to the fact that between 50% and 80% of the embryos generated during IVF contain genetic abnormalities, which prevent a pregnancy from reaching term successfully.
1 Vera-Rodriguez, M. et al. Prediction model for aneuploidy in early human embryo development revealed by single-cell analysis. Nat. Commun. 6:7601 doi: 10.1038/ncomms8601 (2015).
Press release: Nature Communications
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