varoblog

(wz) Researchers have discovered a new protein involved in the fertilization of an egg by sperm, providing useful information for scientists developing reproductive technologies and for better understanding reproductive disorders.
When the membranes of the sperm head and egg start fusing and create an opening between them, the sperm cell releases proteins through the opening that activate the egg. This allows the sperm cell to further enter the egg and mix its material with that of the egg, thus creating one cell – the zygote. The egg activation steps are well known, but it is not yet clear which molecules initiate the activation process.
This article was featured as a »Paper of the Week« by the Journal of Biological Chemistry’s Editors, meaning that it belongs to the top one percent of papers reviewed in significance and overall importance.more…

From»FirstScience.com« (Newstipps – articles to be published in the April 20, 2007 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry (Vol. 282, No. 16) – further links available)

(sz) Health Canada is reviewing the science and safety issues of freezing women’s eggs for future use and says it will be among the reproductive technologies that will have to be licensed.
A Health Canada official confirmed yesterday that egg freezing would be considered a “controlled activity” under the 2004 Assisted Human Reproduction Act, and if the review suggests the science is still “somewhat risky” it could limit the number of clinics licensed to provide the service.
Francine Manseau, a senior policy analyst with Health Canada, said regulations are under development and will be implemented and enforced by Assisted Human Reproduction Canada, a federal agency created under the act to regulate the country’s fertility clinics. more…

From: »globeandmail.com« (Canada)

(sz) You might have forgotten this snippet of local news. In 2005, a San Francisco woman gave birth to a baby who as an embryo had been frozen for 13 years. While this may have been perceived as a curiosity, now it can be grasped as a component in a much larger story, one about to swamp us all with sticky choices.
This bigger story is laid out in exquisite and disquieting detail by award-winning science writer Liza Mundy in “Everything Conceivable: How Assisted Reproduction Is Changing Men, Women and the World.” The book is the result of an assignment given to Mundy to write about infertility among the poor. What she discovered was that many of her colleagues were also experiencing this heartrending problem. It also became evident to Mundy that the world has undergone a major shift. The almost quaint environment in which she formed her attitudes concerning reproductive choice during the 1980s had been superseded by a more Byzantine landscape.
A feature writer for the Washington Post Magazine, Mundy has done her research well. She conducted hundreds of interviews with “mothers, fathers, prospective parents, infertility doctors, lab technicians, social workers, surrogate mothers, egg donors, sperm donors and children (many now adults) conceived through surrogacy and in vitro fertilization,” using them to penetrate the high-tech, high-dollar world of making babies. more…

From: »S.F.Gate.com« (book review)

(sz) Follistim(R), the first recombinant FSH approved in Japan for use in IVF and ICSI, is now also available in Japan for the induction of ovulation in infertile women.
Follistim(R), the first recombinant FSH approved in Japan for use in IVF and ICSI, is now also available in Japan for the induction of ovulation in infertile women. Follistim’s availability in this new indication means that women and their doctors in Japan now have at their disposal a modern fertility treatment in a ready-to-use solution. It is applicable in a full range of fertility treatments associated with assisted reproductive technologies (ART).
Follistim (also branded as Puregon(R)) was approved by the Japanese health authorities for use in ART in August 2005, and at that time, it was the first fertility drug manufactured by recombinant DNA technology to become available on the Japanese market. This breakthrough represented a long-awaited generation change in the treatment of infertility in Japan. Such a shift has also been reflected in the withdrawal of some older types of fertility hormone manufactured from the urine of menopausal women. Follistim is the only recombinant fertility hormone to be specifically approved in Japan for both ovulation induction and controlled ovarian stimulation associated with IVF/ICSI. more…

From: »PipelineReview.com«

(sz) The Women’s Specialty Health Care Center utilizes ultrasound guided in-vitro fertilization techniques which according to very recent medical studies may increase the opportunity for a successful pregnancy by up to 50%. This process is very welcome news for the 12% of women (7.3 million) in the United States who have difficulty becoming pregnant according to the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. David McLaughlin, an eminent and skilled physician with over 30 years of experience who is the director of the Women’s Specialty Health Care Center, a medical practice focused on gynecology, with a special emphasis on fertility, reproductive surgery and menopausal treatments, is pleased to announce that his office based in-vitro fertilization (IVF) center recently received accreditation from the College of American Pathologists (CAP).
The CAP certification process reviews the qualifications of the staff, the lab equipment, facilities, the safety program and the overall management of the laboratory to ensure the highest standard of care is available for patients. This stringent outside examination provides a testament to the high quality and comprehensive care that is the hallmark of the services provided by Dr. McLaughlin and the staff at the Women’s Specialty Health Care Center. more…

From: »eMediaWire« (PR Web – downloadable PDF press-release)

(wz) Heartbreak is hitting hundreds of North Yorkshire couples who are being denied IVF treatment to help them have babies.
The waiting list for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) - the last desperate hope for many childless couples - has now been suspended in the county since January.
New figures obtained by The Press from the cash-strapped North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) reveal that there are currently about 300 women waiting on the list - not knowing when they will be given the treatment they long for.
The women who are waiting to be given the treatment range in age from 21 to 39 - the latter being the cut-off age for women being offered IVF on the NHS, according to national guidelines. more…

From: »The Press« (York, UK)

(sz) A procedure called PGD is used to prevent inherited disorders, but can it improve in vitro pregnancy rates?
Biospies are a pain. When they’re medically necessary we put up with them. When they’re not, most of us would just as soon remain un-punctured.
When the patient is a 3-day-old embryo, it’s especially fair to ask for some evidence of a clear medical benefit.
Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD, is a procedure sometimes performed in conjunction with in vitro fertilization to improve the quality of the embryos selected. It entails the careful isolation of one of a 3-day-old embryo’s eight or so cells, then analysis of that cell’s genetic contents. Based on what is found, IVF patients and doctors can decide which embryos to transfer into the woman’s uterus.
Use of PGD has risen exponentially since its inception 17 years ago. In the U.S., where PGD isn’t formally tracked, about 3,000 procedures were performed in 2005, according to a recent report from the Genetics & Public Policy Center, which is affiliated with Johns Hopkins University. Experts estimate its frequency is rising annually by 15% to 30%. more…

From: »The L.A. Times«

(sz) New media suite will provide the optimum environment for the fertilisation of the oocyte, the subsequent division of the resulting embryo and ensure optimum blastocyst development for extended culture.
Cook Women’s Health announces the launch of a new formulation of its acclaimed physiological IVF culture media. Alterations to its fertilisation, cleavage and blastocyst media suite are designed to assist the natural development of the embryo at each developmental stage, thereby maximising embryo viability and offering IVF clinics the opportunity to implement single embryo transfer. The revised formulation includes an alteration to the constituents of its current fertilisation, cleavage and blastocyst media, particularly in relation to the concentration of glucose, albumin, amino acids and added vitamins.
This assists the three stages of oocyte fertilisation, embryo division and subsequent embryo development, providing the appropriate nutrients to match the gamete’s and embryo’s shifting metabolic requirements.
Changes to the original IVF culture media suite are the result of more than two years of extensive research working with physicians and scientists from Sydney IVF, world leaders in assisted reproductive medicine and elective single embryo transfer. more…

From: »Laboratorytalk«

(wz) Australian politicians begin their first round of votes this week to decide the fate of a controversial new law that could legalise therapeutic embryonic cloning in the country for the first time. Reproductive human cloning will, however, remain banned.
Therapeutic cloning, otherwise known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), involves introducing a person’s DNA into an unfertilised egg to create stem cell tissues that are genetically identical to that person. The technique is thought to hold great potential for treating a number of debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and cystic fibrosis.
Last December, Australia’s House of Representatives voted in favour of an amendment to the Infertility Treatment Act, which would allow such research to be conducted on unfertilised eggs left over from in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment, however, before new legislation is passed, it must first be approved by each individual state.
This week, the state of Victoria will kick off the voting process, with Queensland and New South Wales expected to soon follow. more…

From: »DrugResearcher.com«

(wz) Human sperm cells have been created artificially for the first time, scientists said on Thursday (April, 12th – ed.).
The ground-breaking research offers hope to thousands of men with low sperm counts or who have been left infertile by cancer therapy. Fully-functioning reproductive cells could be manufactured in laboratories within five years for use in in-vitro fertilisation treatment, experts hope.
German scientists took samples from the bone marrow of male volunteers and isolated stem cells known as mesenchymal cells, which were already known to be able to grow into body tissue such as muscles.
These cells were then treated with vitamin A to transform them into primordial germ cells – the first stage in the production of sperm. Some then developed further into more advanced spermatagonial stem cells.
‘We are very excited about this discovery, particularly as our earlier work in mice suggests we could develop the work even further,’ said Prof Karim Nayernia, who carried out his research at Göttingen University but now works at the North-East England Stem Cell Institute in Newcastle. more…

From: »METRO.co.uk«