Newstalk Magazine is available now for free from the Apple app store.
Geneticists are learning more about gene patterns, biologists are uncovering clues behind unusual cell behaviour and scientists are gaining insights into the previously hidden depths of our biological make-up.
Reproductive researchers are also yielding remarkable results with new advances helping infertile couples have children. But it’s an emotive field, dealing with some of the most vulnerable patient groups.
With science now offering nature a helping hand, more innovation means a higher chance of success. And success in this case, means life.
The results can be powerful. Anna Hughes was approaching her 40th birthday when she began having trouble conceiving naturally. Mindful of her age, she immediately started IVF and using the latest technology called an Embryoscope she gave birth to twins Max and Barney last New Year’s Eve.
The Hughes family
Max and Barney can now be counted among the two per cent of all children in the Western world born through In Vitro Fertilisation. With that number set to rise to between five and ten per cent – it’s little wonder any breakthroughs in IVF research is big news.
Irish women are among the oldest mothers in Europe. Starting families at a later stage is a trend set to continue. One in five Irish couples now experience difficulty conceiving and this figure is on the rise. Currently the average age for a woman here to begin IVF treatment is between 37 and 38 years.
Scientists involved in the latest innovations have described the technology as the most significant development for IVF patients in at least 35 years. The Embryoscope, which has a built-in microscope, camera and computer, uses time-lapse imaging to monitor the speed of development in embryos in the laboratory before they are implanted. This means it can pinpoint exactly when embryos reach critical stages. Those too slow at reaching certain milestones indicate abnormalities.
“More than half of embryos contain chromosomal abnormalities which can result in non-implantation, miscarriage or the birth of a child with chromosomal disorder” explains Alison Campbell, Embryology Director at BeaconCare Facility in Dublin. “This advance can dramatically improve the success rate for the tens of thousands of women who undergo fertility treatment each year by identifying the embryos with the highest potential for a successful pregnancy”.
Scientists at the Care Fertility clinic in Manchester, who carried out the study, say such informed selections can improve birth rates by over 50 per cent.
The research, reported in Reproductive BioMedicine Online in May, followed 69 couples at clinics last year - 88 embryos were imaged and implanted. The researchers classified the embryos as low, medium or high risk of chromosome abnormalities based on their development at key points.
IVF blastocyst selection
Viewing detailed images of embryo development has already helped with embryo selection in the past but these latest findings have taken it further using morphokinetic algorithms to predict success. The calculations allow scientists give it a quality score to unlock details about the viability of the embryo as it develops through the early stages. 11 babies were born from the low risk group of embryos in the study– defined as a 61 per cent success rate, compared to five from medium risk and none born from what the researchers deemed ‘high risk’.
In conventional IVF, the embryos are removed from the incubator once a day to be checked under the microscope which potentially exposes them to damage. With the new non-invasive technique, embryos don’t leave incubator until they are implanted and rather than once a day, photos are taken every 20 minutes.
The importance of research and innovation in IFV treatment, especially in Ireland, is not to be underestimated according to Jenny Cloherty, Laboratory Director at Galway Fertility Clinic. The clinic was the first in Ireland to introduce the Embryoscope. “We first introduced the Embryoscope in Feb 2012 and saw the benefits immediately. We achieved higher pregnancy rates and success for couples that had a number of failed cycles previously.”
She presented a paper on the Eymbroscope to the Irish Fertility Society‘s Annual meeting last May and believes that the data gathered by the new technology will allow for more specific mathematical models. “Success rates for those under 38 are in the region of 50%, but for those over 40 it is only 20%, reducing to less than 5% over 42. So age is the biggest factor in success.”
Dr Mary Wingfield from the Merrion Fertility Clinic, Dublin says they are excited about the results of this breakthrough but says it’s still early days: “Initial research certainly seems very encouraging; however, it is important that any new technique such as this is carefully evaluated and that the benefits are not over played or over interpreted”
Despite the speedy advances in this field, regulation and ethics will continue to play a vital role. In Britain this week a controversial IVF treatment was given the green light by Ministers which could create the first ‘three-parent baby’.
Parents at risk of having children with profound disabilities will be offered the treatment which involves replacing part of the mothers damaged DNA with that of a healthy donor. Critics, however, say that any genetic alteration could lead to the creation of so-called ‘designer babies’.
For those having difficulty starting their family, like Anna Hughes, the hope of a beautiful, healthy baby is an allure almost impossible to resist. She doesn’t believe she would ever have had twins Max and Barney without such medical intervention. “I can’t wait to show the boys the video of them from the very beginning, it’s an amazing privilege very few get to see.”
There is no doubt that these biomedical advances are not only far-reaching, but just the beginning of a paradigm shift in the future of IVF as we know it.
This article originally appeared in Newstalk Magazine for iPad in August, for more details go here.
