Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) for monogenic diseases is widely applied, allowing the transfer to the uterus of healthy embryos. PGD is also employed for the detection of chromosome abnormalities for couples at high risk of producing aneuploid embryos, such as advanced maternal (>35 years). A significant number of patients requesting PGD for monogenic diseases are also indicated for ch...

Methods A 31-year-old primigravid woman presented with a twin pregnancy at 14 weeks of gestation for evaluation of structural abnormalities in one co-twin. The marriage was non consanguineous. There was not history of genetic disorders or structural anomalies noted in the both parents. This was her first pregnancy and it was achieved by in vitro fertilization (ivf) and embryo transfer. One embr...

Data on the frequency of aneuploidy in farm animals are lacking and there is the need for a reliable technique which is capable of detecting all chromosomes simultaneously in a single cell. With the employment of comparative genomic hybridization coupled with the whole genome amplification technique, this study brings new information regarding the aneuploidy of individual chromosomes in pigs. F...

By exposing chicken embryos to hypoxia (10%) acutely (2, 4, and 6 hr) during early development (2, 3, and 4 days) we tested the hypothesis that hypoxia has an impact on embryonic growth and impairs cardiac development at the time cardiac morphogenesis is taking place. After the hypoxic perturbation, the embryos were allowed to develop until day 9, when embryo mass, heart mass, and rate of oxyge...

BACKGROUND A comparison has been made of the development of mouse zygotes in either one-step or two-step culture systems. METHODS Embryo culture, blastocyst cell counts and embryo transfer were done. RESULTS No significant differences were observed in the proportions of blastocysts, rates of hatching, numbers of cells in the inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) that developed in pro...

Fundulus heteroclitus embryos were exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) during early development using nanoinjection or water bath exposure. TCDD caused developmental abnormalities that included hemorrhaging, loss of vascular integrity, edema, stunted development and death. The LC(50) and LD(50) of TCDD for Fundulus embryos were approximately 19.7+/-9.5 pg TCDD/microl (water ba...

BACKGROUND Selection of the best embryo for transfer is very important in assisted reproductive technology (ART). Using morphological assessment for this selection demonstrated that the correlation between embryo morphology and implantation potential is relatively weak. On the other hand, aneuploidy is a key genetic factor that can influence human reproductive success in ART. OBJECTIVE The ai...

BACKGROUND: There are several reports that indicate a linkage between exposure to power frequency (50 - 60 Hz) magnetic fields with abnormalities in the early embryonic development of the chicken. The present study was designed to understand whether power frequency electromagnetic fields could act as an environmental insult and invoke any neurochemical or toxicological changes in developing chi...

Although some studies have been made on the effects of carcinogens on the embryonic develop ment of various animals (1, 5, 9, 15, 17, 18, 22), little effort has been expended in studying the mode of action of these chemical compounds. A previous paper (11) described the teratogenic ef fects of 2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF) on the de velopment of the zebrafish; the abnormalities in cluded a distor...

The relationship was examined between chromosome abnormalities in cleavage stage human embryos and maternal age, embryo morphology and development rate. Embryos that were classified as suboptimal for transfer from patients undergoing IVF treatment were disaggregated, and all or most of their cells were fixed for analysis by fluorescence in-situ hybridization. Chromosomes X, Y, 13, 18 and 21, an...