Scientists have discovered indicators for chromosomal abnormalities in human embryos created for in vitro fertilization within the first 30 hours of their development, a vast improvement over the five or six days they previously have had to wait.
Tag: embryos
Lawmakers Move To Ban Funding For Human Embryo Editing
On June 17, the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee released a bill that outlines the funding for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for 2016. But the bill has an unusual caveat: if it passes as it currently stands, it would bar the agency from spending any money to assess research or clinical applications for products that manipulate the human genome. It would also require the agency to set up a committee to review a forthcoming report that considers the ethics of editing human embryos.
Medical Experts Talk Kim Kardashian, Sex Selection, And The Fear Of ‘Designer Babies’
Kim had just announced that she and Kanye were expecting a second child, a boy conceived through In Vitro Fertilization. Kim reportedly had only male embryos implanted; as you may have heard, she and Kanye already have a girl. Now they’re having a boy. (Update: Kardashian has since denied those reports, though she has confirmed she’s expecting a boy.)Steinberg founded The Fertility Institute in 1986. The technology rumored to be utilized by the Kardashian-Wests isn’t brand new, he pointed out — sex-selection is about 20 years old, IVF near 35 — but “people call us up, and they can’t believe it’s available.” After the Kim and Kanye news came out, the center was “blitzed” by calls, Steinberg said.
US Congress Moves to Block Human-Embryo Editing
The US House of Representatives is wading into the debate over whether human embryos should be modified to have heritable changes.
Switzerland Votes ‘Yes’ in PGD Embryo Tests Referendum
Switzerland has voted in favor of preimplantation diagnosis (PGD) in a nationwide referendum. The constitutional amendment will enable doctors to select which embryos to transplant after artificial insemmination.
Decreasing Financial Burden Of IVF May Encourage Single Embryo Transfers, Reduce Multiple Births
In the U.S., the practice guidelines published by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) provide recommendations on how many embryos to transfer in order to balance safety with the effectiveness of assisted reproductive technology. In an effort to reduce multiple births and associated complications, it is important to evaluate embryo transfer practices that contribute to these outcomes.
Read This Before You Freak Out Over Gene-Edited Superbabies
Sit down America, and let’s talk about making babies. Specifically, designer babies. Because ever since in vitro fertilization made it possible for parents to select embryos with the best genetics, precisely-engineered progeny have been a big fear. And now that a powerful gene-editing technique has been used on human embryos, it’s fine to get a little freaked out. But—here’s the important bit—let’s not leave out the hope of eradicating thousands of diseases, and the potential to make many pharmacological treatments obsolete.
DNA Editing Takes a Serious Step Forward — For Better or Worse
It’s a scenario that has haunted biologists since the dawn of the DNA age: the evil scientist custom-crafting a human being with test tubes and Petri dishes. So when a Chinese team revealed last month that it had used a new laboratory technique to alter a gene in human embryos, it set off an urgent debate over the ethics — and wisdom — of tinkering with the most basic building blocks of life.
Embryo Editing Sparks Epic Debate
In a world first, Chinese scientists have reported that they have used powerful gene-editing techniques to modify human embryos. Their paper, published in the Beijing-based journal Protein & Cell on 18 April, came as no surprise to the scientific community, but it has ignited a wide-ranging debate about what types of gene-editing research are ethical. The publication also raises questions about the appropriate way to publish such work.
Gene Editing Technique Offers Hope for Hereditary Diseases
Salk Institute researchers have developed a potential therapeutic avenue for preventing the transmission of mitochondrial diseases by selectively eliminating those mutations from eggs or early embryos.