IVF Hammersmith
The vitrification of blastocysts following biopsy at the early-cleavage stage or blastocyst stage of embryo development - A Pilot Study
Person Responsible: Mr Geoffrey Trew
This study aims to combine, for the first time, the techniques of blastocyst culture, biopsy and vitrification in an attempt to identify the most efficient method of freezing embryos for those patients who may need pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) of their embryos in order to avoid the transmission of genetic disease to their resultant children.
Embryo biopsy can be performed at different stages of embryo development. They have been traditionally performed at cleavage-stage, when the embryo is three days old, but they can also be performed at blastocyt-stage, when the embryo is five to six days old.
There is increasing evidence to suggest that embryo biopsy at blastocyst-stage of development may be advantageous, as it causes potentially less damage to the embryos. After embryo biopsy and subsequent embryo transfer, remaining good quality can be frozen for a patients' future treatment.
Vitrification (ultra-rapid freezing) has been shown to offer increased freeze/thaw survival rates over the more conventional "slow" freezing protocols currently in use for blastocysts.
This study may help to answer the question of whether vitrification is a better method of freezing biopsied embryos and also at which stage it is better to biopsy the embryos to achieve the highest freeze/ thaw survival rates. Information gained from such a study may inform clinicians and patients on the most effective and efficient way of storing embryos.
Back to research awaiting approval
Page last updated: 11 April 2009
The creation human/animal embryos for research comes with many ethical and social implications.