Fertilization News and Research

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British team grow sperm and eggs from stem cells

British scientists have made a major breakthrough with the discovery that both sperm and eggs can be grown from stem cells.

20 Jun 2005

Scientists prove that human embryonic stem cells can develop in the laboratory into the early forms of cells that eventually become eggs or sperm

Their work opens up the possibility that eggs and sperm could be grown from stem cells and used for assisted reproduction, therapeutic cloning and the creation of more stem cells for further research and for the improved treatments for patients suffering from a range of diseases.

19 Jun 2005

Baby born to woman following an ovary transplant from her sister

Doctors in St. Louis say a woman whose ovaries stopped working when she was a teenager, after an ovary transplant from her identical twin sister, has given birth to a baby girl.

8 Jun 2005

Baby boy is first successful birth in Canada from frozen eggs

McGill University Health Center (MUHC) in Montreal yesterday announced the first successful birth in Canada resulting from frozen eggs. A healthy baby boy, weighing 3740 grams was born on April 29 to a 26-year-old mother who had suffered from infertility for two years.

31 May 2005

A new technique might allow women diagnosed with cancer the opportunity to have children when chemotherapy and radiation treatments rob them of their fertility

Freezing eggs is one thing; thawing them safely so they can lead to pregnancy is the challenge. In the past, efforts to freeze a woman's eggs, or oocytes, have not worked well because the cells are large. When the egg is thawed, ice crystals cause damage that prevents the egg from being fertilized.

29 May 2005

U.S. House of Representatives approve two bills on stem-cell research

Two new bills related to stem-cell research have been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives one promoting non-destructive methods and the other supporting research resulting in the death of unborn children.

26 May 2005

IVF treatment less effective in women living with a smoker

According to Canadian study passive smoking is apparently as damaging to a woman’s chances of having successful fertility treatment as being a smoker.

26 May 2005

The National Infertility Association joins infertility groups to Support Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act

The National Infertility Association joins with the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the American Fertility Association in support of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, HR 810.

23 May 2005

Premature use of stem cell therapy could put patients at risk

The premature use of stem cell therapy could put many patients at risk of viral or prion diseases unless appropriate safety systems are in place, warn experts in this week’s BMJ.

19 May 2005

Stem-cell breakthrough gives new hope for IVF treatments

In a scientific first, human eggs have been grown in the laboratory using stem cells scraped from the surface of women's ovaries and the development raises the possibility of delaying menopause and providing a limitless source of donor eggs for in vitro fertilisation treatments and embryonic stem cell research.

5 May 2005

Little evidence found for IVF as most effective infertility treatment

In vitro fertilization can improve pregnancy rates among couples with unexplained infertility, but there is little evidence to show whether IVF results in more live births than other treatments, according to a new review of recent studies.

1 May 2005

British court gives the go ahead for IVF babies to be created to save sick siblings

Britain's highest appeal court has rejected a challenge from an anti-abortion group and has backed a 2003 Court of Appeal ruling that some couples undergoing the fertility treatment could have their embryos screened to find tissue matches for seriously ill children. The procedure will help save desperately ill children but some fear it could lead to the creation of babies for spare parts

1 May 2005

Molecular mechanism that desensitizes us to cold, discovered

Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers have discovered how the membrane protein that allows us to sense cold works and how this protein becomes desensitized so that one no longer feels the cold.

27 Apr 2005

Guidelines for research involving human embryonic stem cells

The National Academies today recommended guidelines for research involving human embryonic stem cells, and urged all institutions conducting such research to establish oversight committees to ensure that the new guidelines will be followed.

26 Apr 2005

Baby gene tests safety should be checked

Experts are warning that the long-term safety of screening embryos for genetic diseases is going unchecked.

26 Apr 2005

Ensuring patient safety at fertility clinics

In the years since the birth of the first ‘test-tube’ baby in 1978, in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) has grown to become an accepted mainstream medical technique, with more than 25,000 treatments carried out every year.

23 Apr 2005

Halozyme Therapeutics receives FDA clearance for Cumulase

Halozyme Therapeutics has announced it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Cumulase for the treatment of oocytes to facilitate certain in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures. The active pharmaceutical ingredient in Cumulase is the first and only recombinant human hyaluronidase approved in the United States for cumulus removal in the IVF process.

20 Apr 2005

New method for the study of ion channel gating kinetics

An ion channel is a protein pore that lets ions (charged atoms such as calcium) pass through a cell's membrane. The method fits data to a new class of models, called manifest interconductance rank (MIR) models, which will give researchers a better understanding of the mechanisms by which ion channels open and close.

19 Apr 2005

Women who smoke cut 10 years off their fertile life

More than a third of British women in their 20s smoke, and the rate, despite aggressive campaigns against smoking, has only decreased slightly in the past five years. One in seven couples experience problems conceiving, and, in cases involving female infertility, no specific cause can be found in 20 per cent of cases.

7 Apr 2005

Lack of aftercare support for mothers of twins

New research by the Twins and Multiple Births Association (Tamba) has found that nearly 50 per cent of parents are left struggling unsupported after the birth.

4 Apr 2005