varoblog

German IVF-equipment manufacturer Varolab recently installed the first »Classic2« workbench in China. The LH 06 163-modell has horizontal air-channeling and features an active anti-vibration element. The ISCI workbench has been delivered in a special colour, as all Varolab equipment is BTO (build to order).

Varolab-founder Werner Zapf went to the Huzhou Maternity & Child Care Hospital in the northern Zhejiang province of China to personally supervise the assembly of the new workbench. He also discussed the maxium use of this equipment with the resident biologists.

The Chinese officials appreciated the excellent workmanship, its ease of use and the very low noise emission. The talks also resulted in the conclusion that a second workbench will be needed in the near future.
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(sz) Medical Association of Jamaica (MAJ) to discuss matter at symposium this week
Six years ago when Suzette Jackson and her husband, Aaron decided they would try to conceive through in vitro fertilisation, if they could have chosen certain characteristics for their twin babies they would have flatly refused. For them, it was more than enough that Suzette had conceived, let alone given birth to two healthy babies. This was an easy decision for the Aarons.
But for some parents, the decision is not as simple. For example, in 2004, when scientists took the decision to create five healthy babies to provide stem cells for siblings with serious non-heritable conditions, there was a great public outcry. Many condemned the move as being “unlawful” and “unethical”.
The babies were created using a technique called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD, which involved testing the embryos for a tissue type match for the ailing siblings.
Indeed, since the upsurge of advance reproductive technologies, doctors are now closer to creating these customised babies, popularly referred to as “designer babies”, which are essentially free of genetic disorders such as sickle cell and Down Syndrome. What is more, is that the PGD technology gives parents the option of choosing the sex of their baby. more…

From: »The Jamaica Observer«

(sz) StemLifeLine, a Bay Area-based life sciences company, announced today that it received approval from the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) to engage in the operation of a tissue bank in accordance with Division 2, Chapter 4.1 of the Health and Safety Code. With this Tissue Bank license, individuals who have undergone in vitro fertilization (IVF) may now use StemLifeLine’s service to develop personal stem cell lines from their remaining stored embryos. StemLifeLine is the first life sciences company to offer this unique service through IVF centers.
“Developing a personal stem cell line is like buying insurance for the future,” stated Ana Krtolica, Ph.D., cofounder, CEO and chief scientific officer (CSO) of StemLifeLine. “Until now, there have been only three options for frozen embryos remaining from the in vitro fertilization process. They could be donated to research, given up for ‘adoption’ to other couples or discarded. With our approved California Tissue Bank license, we can now offer IVF patients the option to derive and preserve their own stem cell line for their future use.” more…

From: »PharmaLive«

(sz) One of the best-kept secrets of IVF is selective reduction — killing one or more foetuses in the womb of a woman who is carrying twins, triplets or quadruplets. In a new book, “Everything Conceivable”, Washington Post writer Liza Mundy describes how it works. She conducted an in-depth interview with Manhattan obstetrician Mark Evans, one of the few American doctors who is willing not only to do reductions, but to discuss them and rationalise them.
Little is known about how widespread the practice is. Because of the growing number of pregnancies achieved with assisted reproduction techniques, including IVF and artificial insemination, there has been an explosion of high-risk multiple pregnancies. But no one keeps statistics on how many of these are “reduced”. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publishes an annual report on fertility clinic outcomes, but not on this procedure. The fertility industry does not keep statistics either. “This is a very sensitive topic,” says David Grainger, president of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. more…

From: »Australasian Bioethics Information«

(sz) The IVF industry is exploiting UK couples, charging them over the odds for treatment, fertility expert Lord Robert Winston said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the Hay Literary Festival in Wales, the Imperial College London professor also criticised the fertility watchdog the HFEA on its duty of care.
The HFEA maintained it policed clinics and provided information to patients. One private IVF clinic said it was impossible to generalise about the private sector.
It is very easy to exploit people by the fact that they’re desperate and you’ve got the technology which they want
Lord Winston
Lord Winston said couples were being overcharged for fertility treatments, and some were being offered embryo screening tests for which there was no clinical justification. more…

From: »BBC News«

(sz) To better understand the risks of in vitro fertilization, the health ministry will study the impact of artificial insemination on the development of children from birth to age 6 with a survey later this fiscal year of around 8,000 children conceived through the method, ministry officials said Tuesday (May, 23rd – ed.).
Rising infertility rates and more women giving birth later in life are pushing up the number of in vitro fertilizations. In 2004, an estimated 18,000 babies were conceived via the method in Japan.
Critics say the in vitro method — in which an egg is removed from a woman’s ovary, fertilized with sperm and then placed in the womb — may cause multiple pregnancies that could pose risks to the woman’s health or increase the likelihood of birth defects.
Women fighting infertility welcomed the ministry’s plan as possibly providing insight into potential risks. But some medical professionals are concerned that sensitive personal information could be leaked. more…

From: »The Japan Times« (online)

(sz) New state-of-the-art laboratories that will allow scientists to make stem cells and turn them into tissue suitable for human transplantation will be officially opened at The University of Manchester today (May, 23rd – ed.).
The two sterile labs will serve the UK Centre for Tissue Regeneration and the Northwest Embryonic Stem Cell Research Centre, which is based in the University Faculty of Life Sciences and at St Mary’s Hospital.
“The centre’s laboratories will be some of the best equipped in the country producing stem-cell lines to Good Manufacturing Practice standards so they can be used for transplantation at a future date,” said Dr Sue Kimber, Co-director of the stem cell centre.
“We aim to build on the strong relationship between the NHS Trust and the University to enable us to deliver state-of-the-art medicines for treatment of a wide range of diseases.”
Scientists believe that stem cells - master cells that have the potential to turn into any kind of human tissue - could be used to replace diseased cells in patients suffering from currently incurable diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and cancer.
The North West Embryonic Stem Cell Centre will ask patients on IVF programmes to donate eggs and embryos that would ordinarily be discarded and develop them in the lab under licence from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. more…

From: »The University Of Manchester«

(wz) For the first time in Turkmenistan’s medical practice, doctors of Ene Myahri Mother and Child Health Care Center in Ashgabat have started extra-corporal (artificial) fertilization surgeries. Treatment of all forms of infertility is one of the specialization areas of the Center.
Leading German specialists from Dragon IVF International having expertise in training technical personnel for extra-corporal laboratories have visited the Center’s ECF Laboratory. In the interview to the correspondent of Turkmenistan.ru, reproductive embryologist Dr. Manuela Ropiter-Sharfenstein, telling about their work with the Turkmen colleagues, said:
“We are starting the second, main stage of our close and fruitful cooperation – practical realization of received skills. First, the Turkmen doctors attended a special training course in Göttingen, Germany, afterwards, we visited Turkmenistan. In March 2007, when we visited Ashgabat for the first time, our Turkmen colleagues successfully underwent the training on using the up-to-date equipment and started preliminary treatment of patients”.
According to Ms Manuela Ropiter-Sharfenstein, as of today, 35 couples are on a waiting list for the surgery.
“We are looking forward to the long-term cooperation with our Turkmen colleagues. We will support the laboratory in Ashgabat and do our best to maintain it”, the German specialist said expressing confidence Turkmenistan has big potential in developing reproductive medicine.

From: »turkmenistan.ru«