IVF embryos may be starved of a vital ingredient

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 18 Feb 2005 - 16:00 PDT

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The lack of natural growth factors in the fluid in which IVF embryos are grown could have lifelong effects on people conceived this way. That is the implication of a study on mice by Australian researchers, who say preliminary studies of human embryos back their claims.

Although the latest review of IVF safety found no differences between 8-year-olds conceived normally and those conceived by IVF or ICSI, the possibility of long-term health effects still cannot be ruled out. There are certainly differences early on: singleton babies conceived by IVF or ICSI are more likely to have a low birthweight and to die soon after birth (New Scientist print edition, 23 October 2004).

Could these problems have something to do with the process of IVF or ICSI, such as growing the embryos in a dish for two to five days? Growth media have been developed by trial and error, and contain only a few amino acids and other nutrients. They have been kept simple in the hope of avoiding unanticipated effects.

Yet according to Sarah Robertson's team at the University of Adelaide, at least one growth factor is needed. Her team compared the fate of three groups of mouse embryos: embryos conceived naturally and flushed from the mother's body; IVF embryos grown in a normal culture medium; and IVF embryos grown in a medium containing a growth factor called GM CSF, which a range of mammals produce, including humans.

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