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Breakthrough for infertile couples
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LOCAL scientists have made a discovery into research on animals that could lead to much better chances of infertile couples succeeding with IVF treatment.
The scientists have uncovered the working mechanism of two proteins during the early development of mammals’ embryos and gene expression.
The discovery could help to improved embryo quality screening and better control of congenital deformity before embryo implantation during in vitro fertilization (IVF).
“With this discovery, doctors can screen embryos with abnormal proteins and implant those with better quality to raise success rate and improve the baby’s quality,” said Gao Shaorong, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital’s chief scientist.
The discovery was published by “Nature” and is considered an important contribution to improving the success rate of IVF and also to boosting the delivery chances of healthy babies, said experts from Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, which led the animal research as well as undergoing research on human embryos.
The research team led by Gao said it was known that H3K4me3 and HK27me3 had played a key role in the earliest cell division of embryos. Abnormalities could hamper an embryo’s development and even cause death. “But how these proteins work remained unknown,” Gao said.
In the laboratory, scientists used mice embryos and discovered the genetic regulatory mechanism of the two proteins.
There is an estimated 15 percent of couples with infertility problems in China and many of them turn to IVF.
But the success rate of IVF is currently between 40 to 60 percent and many women have to receive repeated embryo implantations.
Scientists believe the Shanghai discovery could lead to a much improved IVF success rate.
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