DNA testing of embryos promises higher IVF success rate
Australian scientists based at Monash University worked with an international team to study the DNA fingerprint of groups of embryos before undergoing IVF implantation, and then again from the successful deliveries nine months later.
The normal selection criteria for choosing which embryos to use in a fertilization procedure is much
more art than science. Doctors usually base their decision on the appearance of the cell mass via microscopy, which yields a current success rate around 30%.
The DNA test used is not a traditional DNA test where the identity of the individual is queried, but instead the researchers examined differences in patterns of gene expression between the embryos that developed into babies and those embryos that proved unviable.
They isolated over 7000 expressed genes markers that were unique to the viable embryos and absent from embryos that failed to go to term. While screening 7000 would be impractical for routine IVF procedures, it should be possible to reduce this number to a handful of indicators within a couple of years.
Should a commercial test emerge it should increase IVF birth rates and reduce the need for multiple embryos transfer, in the hope that at least one will be a viable pregnancy. The potential usefulness of this test is high, but significant hurdles still remain, such as performing the test and the embryo transfer in the tight timelines required.