Fulfilling the "Parents' Dream" for More People - New Technology Improves the Success Rate of IVF

Fulfilling the "Parents' Dream" for More People - New Technology Improves the Success Rate of IVF

【Today's Viewpoint】

In July 1978, the world's first "test-tube baby" Louise Brown fell to the ground in Manchester, England. In the 7 years since, in vitro fertilization has become the main treatment for infertility worldwide. According to the website of the British "Economist" weekly, at least 45 million people have been conceived through IVF so far, and an IVF baby is born about every 1200 seconds.

IVF is as healthy and normal as a normal child, but in vitro fertilization technology also faces some technical difficulties, which makes many women endure repeated dreams and frustrations. Scientists are also working hard to improve the success rate of IVF with the help of biomedical and artificial intelligence technologies.

"In vitro gametes" help infertility research

Researchers in Japan and the United States are exploring the use of stem cells to make egg cells from skin and blood cells, a process known as "in vitro gametotes."

In early 2023, at the third International Summit on Human Genome Editing, Professor Katsuhiko Hayashi from Kyushu University in Japan said that his team used the cells of male mice for the first time to grow viable eggs that can be combined with sperm for fertilization, allowing two male mice to "produce" offspring.

The research team first cultured cells isolated from mice in vitro, turning ordinary cells into pluripotent stem cells through "cell reprogramming" technology. During this process, some cells lose the Y chromosome. They completed the replication of the X chromosome by inhibiting a key checkpoint of cell division by drug action, obtaining male mouse cells with karyotype XX (male mice's natural sex chromosome is XY); They then induced cell differentiation into egg cells through gene-editing techniques; Finally, "egg cells" are cultured with organoids and in vitro fertilization similar to IVF technology is completed with sperm from mice. These "fertilized eggs" are transplanted into the uterus of female mice to complete development, producing pups. Lin said that the seven mice that were eventually born were healthy and fertile.

Although fertility is one of the most fundamental aspects of human biology, scientists have a very poor understanding of how new life arises. The basics are obvious: sperm and egg must meet. But many of the cytological and genetic foundations that gave birth to life remain unsolved.

The New Scientist report notes that Lin's research provides new insights into sperm and egg formation mechanisms. Lin himself said that his research results will help scientists understand and treat human infertility. However, some scientists point out that the technology still has a lot of ethical, legal and safety problems.

AI screens the most promising embryos

In vitro fertilization involves removing eggs from a woman's ovaries and fertilizing them in a laboratory in combination with male sperm, after which the doctor implants the promising embryo into the woman's uterus. Fertility treatment is a luxury for many, and in the U.S., a treatment cycle can cost $2,24 and the success rate averages only about <> percent, meaning women often need to try it multiple times.

Artificial intelligence technology has already played a role in many fields, and now it is also beginning to enter the field of IVF.

According to the British "Daily Mail", Israeli reproductive technology company AIVF has developed a new software EMA that scores embryos through some characteristics, such as genetic abnormalities that cannot be seen by the human eye, to screen out the most promising embryos. Clinics using the algorithm reported a 30 percent increase in IVF success rates.

Daniela Gilber, an embryologist and co-founder and CEO of the company, said embryo selection is one of the most critical deciding techniques in the IVF process, where clinicians use the appearance of an embryo to determine its quality, but this is based on subjective human analysis and does not really quantify the actual chance of pregnancy. EMA processes large amounts of data that are undetectable by the human eye to aid in the selection process. Traditional IVF requires an average of 3-5 treatments to conceive, but AVIF shortens the treatment to an average of 1.6 treatments.

Gilber noted that the technology developed by the company is currently being used in Europe, Southeast Asia and South America. However, she also stressed that the algorithm is not meant to replace doctors, and that humans always have the final say.

The new algorithm finds the healthiest sperm

U.S. scientists have developed a new algorithm that scans to find the healthiest sperm.

In a new study, scientists at the Omar Clinic in California developed a "sperm health test" algorithm that scans the shape of sperm and how they move to pick out the best sperm for fertilization with an egg. They hope this will improve the success rate of IVF and reduce costs.

To develop the algorithm, the scientists first extracted a subset of sperm containing up to 30,40 sperm from each sample, mainly from men in their 20000s and <>s, then placed the sample under a microscope and analyzed the health of each sample, scoring it based on its shape and swimming. Researchers say healthy sperm have smooth, oval heads that swim quickly and in straight lines. Researchers grade sperm based on these characteristics and use the data to train the new algorithm to accurately estimate the health of any given sperm.

As it stands, couples who do IVF must go through 3 treatment cycles, and scientists hope to reduce that number to reduce pain, reduce the financial burden, and improve success rates. (Science and Technology Daily reporter Liu Xia)