A mammalian embryo in the first stage of development, when the fertilised egg has grown into a hollow ball made up of a few hundred cells.
New research published in the journal Nature describes how a single cell taken from an IVF embryo, using a technique similar to pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), can be used to create embryonic stem (ES) cell lines. The new method leaves the embryo otherwise intact and able, in...
A biotech company based in Singapore has produced the first human embryonic stem (ES) cell lines specifically designed for clinical use. The cell lines have been developed using the principles of 'Good Manufacturing Practice', which describe how pharmaceutical products ought to be manufactured to minimise contamination under...
Culturing embryos to the blastocyst stage in the laboratory could increase the success rate of IVF treatment involving the transfer of a single embryo, Belgian doctors report. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that in women under 36, transferring a single five-day-old embryo results in...
A new technique for freezing human eggs increases the pregnancy rate per embryo transferred to 34 per cent, scientists report. A research team based in Japan, Denmark and the US, 'vitrified' the eggs on the surface of a fine plastic strip before thawing and fertilising them using intracytoplasmic sperm injection...
Scientists working in Italy have reported success in deriving human stem cell lines from eggs stimulated to divide without sperm. Embryos created from the process of parthenogenesis are known as parthenotes, and never normally develop beyond a few days. The team, from the University of Milan, developed...
BioNews reporting from ESHRE conference, Copenhagen: A team of Belgian scientists has managed to clone human embryos using egg cells matured in the laboratory. The achievement, reported at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), could help overcome the shortage of donated eggs available...
Recent news reports have highlighted the fact that scientists are searching for a way to create human embryonic stem (ES) cells without destroying human embryos. Normally, the derivation of ES cells requires that the embryo they came from be destroyed in the process. Many people have no ethical problem with...
A method for persuading human eggs to start dividing as though they have been fertilised could provide a less controversial source of embryonic stem (ES) cells, say UK researchers. The scientists, based at the University of Wales in Cardiff, also say that the technique might help improve the success rate...
Injecting embryonic stem (ES) cells into mouse embryos can correct serious heart defects, US scientists say. The researchers, who published their findings in the journal Science, also found that injecting ES cells into healthy female mice could prevent the same defect appearing in some of their future offspring. It seems...
American researchers have revealed that cloning causes abnormalities in resulting embryos, but they found no evidence of defects in those created by other assisted reproduction techniques. The researchers were trying to investigate concerns that assisted reproductive technologies increase the risk of the rare genetic disorders Beckwith-Wiedemann and Angelman syndromes. Drs...
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