Parents
can select healthy embryos
[Posted: Mon 19/06/2006]
Irishhealth.com
Couples who are at risk of having a child with a serious genetic
disorder such as cystic fibrosis, may soon be able to select an embryo
which is unaffected through IVF.
Scientists at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in the UK have launched new
technology, which allows more couples to benefit from pre-implantation
genetic diagnosis (PGD). PGD is a technique used to help couples who
are at risk of having a child with a serious genetic disorder, to
select an unaffected embryo.
Such disorders include cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease and spinal
muscular atrophy. While most couples seeking PGD are fertile, they
require IVF treatment like that used for infertile couples
The new technology is known as PGH (pre-implantation genetic
haplotyping) and according to the scientists, it will improve the
reliability of diagnosis and increase the overall success rate.
The hospital has been using PGH for three months and has already
achieved five pregnancies with it.
Due to the complexity of diagnosing genetic disorders in embryos,
doctors have, until now, only been able to diagnose relatively common
conditions and those where the gene mutation is the same for all those
affected.
However the scientists believe that PGH will allow more conditions to
be diagnosed more accurately.
"PGH has revolutionised the service we can now offer. It puts together
two technologies which have been used before, but it is the combination
of these that has made the major difference. We are thrilled to have
developed this technology as it opens up new possibilities to a number
of couples who are at risk of conceiving a child with a serious genetic
disorder", explained Alison Lashwood, a consultant nurse in genetics
who worked with the team that developed PGH.
She described the development of PGD in the early 1990s as
'groundbreaking'.
"Since then, it has helped many couples in the UK and Ireland who were
at risk of having a child with a serious genetic disorder. The
development of PGH takes PGD to a whole new level, allowing us to help
even more couples have unaffected babies", Ms Lashwood added.