Single preimplantation embryo mRNA diff erential display was used to study the gene expression of 2-cell,4cell, and 8-16-cell stage goat embryos produced in vitro, and 16 diff erent stage specifi c bands in total were screened. In these specifi c bands, 5 were in 2-cell stage, 4 were in 4-cell stage, and 7 were in 8-16-cell stage, respectively. Th e sequencing and alignment results suggested th...

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis T he opportunity to exclude in-vitro derived embryos with documented genetic abnormalities before the initiation of pregnancy is an attractive means of preventing heritable genetic disease. Currently couples who are carriers of genetic disease have the option of undergoing chorionic villus sampling in the first trimester or amniocentesis in the second trimester...

Objectives were to evaluate the role of canonical WNT signaling in development of the preimplantation embryo. Signaling was activated with 2-Amino-4-(3,4-(methylenedioxy)benzylamino)-6-(3-methoxyphenyl)pyrimidine (AMBMP) and inhibited with Dickkopf-related protein 1 (DKK1). Treatment of bovine embryos with AMBMP at day 5 after insemination decreased development to the blastocyst stage at day 7 ...

This study is part of a strategy aimed at using fluorescent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on informative genetic microsatellite markers as a diagnostic tool in preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) of severe monogenic disease. Two couples, both of whom had previously had children who were compound heterozygote for severe cystic fibrosis mutations, were offered PGD using fluorescent PCR of t...

The XIV Workshop on the Development and Function of Reproductive Organs was held in Rome, from 14-17 September, 2008, at the Congress Centre of the University of Tor Vergata of Villa Mondragone (Rome, Italy). The Workshop was conceived to be a survey of the events from the formation of the gamete precursors, the primordial germ cells, to the development of the preimplantation embryo through fem...

The use of preimplantation diagnosis for sex determination and detection of exon deletion means that unaffected babies can be born to parents suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). However, those who do not have exon deletion should also be considered for further investigation. A new method, known as linkage analysis, has been developed to diagnose the presence of non-deletion DMD in...

Naïve pluripotent mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) resemble the preimplantation epiblast and efficiently contribute to chimaeras. Primate ESCs correspond to the postimplantation embryo and fail to resume development in chimaeric assays. Recent data suggest that human ESCs can be 'reset' to an earlier developmental stage, but their functional capacity remains ill defined. Here, we discuss how t...

BACKGROUND The majority of human embryos created using in vitro fertilisation (IVF) techniques are aneuploid. Comprehensive chromosome screening methods, applicable to single cells biopsied from preimplantation embryos, allow reliable identification and transfer of euploid embryos. Recently, randomised trials using such methods have indicated that aneuploidy screening improves IVF success rates...

Successful embryo implantation is a process which requires both a synchronous development and interaction between hatched blastocyst and endometrium. The process of implantation as a scheme is presented in Pic. 1, where the diagram shows a preimplantation stage of embryo and some important factors thought to be necessary for uterine receptivity: COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2), EGF (epidermal growth f...