Embryo News and Research

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Program on protecting and preserving reproductive health

Octomom ... Kate Gosselin ... the recent embryo mix-up case in Ohio ... all stories stemming from infertility treatments and making national headlines. But, much to the surprise of many, there are several types of infertility that are actually preventable - something starting to make headlines. That's why The American Fertility Association's infertility prevention education outreach program, Manicures & Martinis, continues to sweep the nation with its next stop in Beverly Hills.

9 Oct 2009

Study shows that GSK-3 gene determines the total number of neurons required for brain

In populating the growing brain, neural stem cells must strike a delicate balance between two key processes - proliferation, in which the cells multiply to provide plenty of starting materials - and differentiation, in which those materials evolve into functioning neurons.

5 Oct 2009

Incept BioSystems commences human clinical trial of its SMART Embryo Culture System

Incept BioSystems, Inc., a privately-held biomedical device company using patented microfluidic technology developed at the University of Michigan, announced today that it has initiated the first U.S. human clinical trial of its proprietary SMART Embryo Culture System. The microscale SMART technology platform is designed to improve the in vitro manipulation, performance, and viability of embryos for the treatment of patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF).

1 Oct 2009

Latest optical and laser technology in medicine displayed at FiO meeting

From scopes that help premature babies breathe to techniques for imaging live neurons and beating hearts as they develop, the latest optical and laser technology being deployed in medicine and the biosciences will be on display at the Optical Society's (OSA) Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics (FiO), which takes place Oct. 11-15 at the Fairmont San Jose Hotel and the Sainte Claire Hotel in San Jose, Calif.

1 Oct 2009

Environmental factors play a major role in early pregnancy losses

Life is all about tradeoffs and recently published research by Virginia J. Vitzthum, a senior scientist at Indiana University's Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, and professor in the IU College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Anthropology, has shown that during periods of intense labor and low food intake, rates of early pregnancy loss can more than double.

30 Sep 2009

Researchers study functional similarity between zebrafish and humans to fight infections

Since the human response to infection is highly complex, research to understand how people fight infection is facilitated by studying how similar processes occur in simpler organisms. Zebrafish are becoming an important model for human disease, since they are easily handled, maintained and manipulated and many fundamental processes between zebrafish and humans are conserved.

24 Sep 2009

AFA reacts to an Ohio woman's claims of an embroyo mix up

An Ohio woman, 40-year-old Carolyn Savage, claims a fertility clinic implanted the wrong embryo and that the baby she's due to deliver the first week in October is not hers. Several media reports state Savage and her husband plan to give the baby boy to his biological parents. The name of the clinic is not being released in this very rare alleged case.

24 Sep 2009

Utah medical ethics expert chairs NIH review of embryonic cells

University of Utah medical ethics expert Jeffrey R. Botkin will chair a federal panel that will review scientists' requests to conduct government-funded research using embryonic stem cells left over from couples who used "test-tube fertilization" to have babies.

23 Sep 2009

FCI to educate women about fertility preservation

Life-saving cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation can destroy the reproductive potential of both men and women; an added struggle for the 130,000 people in the US diagnosed with cancer each year. The good news is that advances in fertility technologies now give patients the ability to preserve their fertility prior to treatment, an option many oncologists fail to inform their patients.

23 Sep 2009

MDC scientist receives 1 million euros for diabetic research

A European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant worth more than a million euros over the next five years has been awarded to Dr. Francesca M. Spagnoli of the Max Delbr-ck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany.

21 Sep 2009

Nuveta closes Series A seed financing round for in vitro fertilization research

Nuveta, Inc., a privately held medical device company and global leader in basic in vitro fertilization (IVF) research, announced today that it has closed a Series A seed financing round, solely funded by Vivo Ventures.

17 Sep 2009

New biological process stimulates the growth of blood vessels

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and the College of Arts & Sciences have identified a new biological process that spurs the growth of new blood vessels.

15 Sep 2009

Research reveals genetic conversation between X and Y chromosomes

In the week that the University of Leicester celebrates the 25th anniversary of the discovery of DNA fingerprinting (Thursday September 10) new findings from the world-renowned University of Leicester Department of Genetics reveal for the first time that the male and female do truly communicate -at least at the fundamental genetic level.

10 Sep 2009

80 percent residents aware of family building options: RESOLVE survey

According to a recent survey conducted by RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association (RESOLVE), Washington, D.C. metro-area residents are highly aware of various family building options due to a patient’s infertility diagnosis, such as medical treatment, adoption and surrogacy.

10 Sep 2009

Researchers demystify polar body analysis reproduction technique

Three out of ten women who undergo polar body diagnosis go on to have a child. The extensive technique of polar body analysis (PBA) is described by researchers in reproductive medicine at Lübeck in an article in the current edition of Deutsches Ärtzeblatt International, in which they present three successful cases and one failure.

31 Aug 2009

Sigma-Aldrich scientists to leverage proprietary gene editing technology to develop genetically-engineered rodent research models

Sigma-Aldrich(R) (Nasdaq: SIAL) announced today that scientists at its new Sigma Advanced Genetic Engineering (SAGE(TM)) Labs in St. Louis will leverage its exclusive CompoZr(TM) Zinc Finger Nuclease (ZFN) gene editing technology (www.compozrzfn.com) to define, develop and offer a new generation of genetically-engineered rodent research models. Such models are commonly used to study disease states in humans and play a key role in the drug discovery process.

24 Aug 2009

Primary cilia can suppress or promote skin cancer

Tiny, solitary spikes that stick out of nearly every cell in the body play a central role in a type of skin cancer, new research has found. The discovery in mice shows that the microscopic structures known as primary cilia can either suppress or promote this skin cancer, depending on the mutation triggering the disease.

24 Aug 2009