title: Future developments in assisted reproduction in humans.
abstract: The advent of human in vitro fertilization (IVF) over 30 years ago has made the oocyte and preimplantation embryo uniquely accessible. This accessibility has given rise to new micromanipulation techniques, such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection for treatment of male infertility, as well as embryo biopsy for preimplantation diagnosis of both genetic disease and aneuploidy, a major cause of early embryo demise and miscarriage. In the UK, average pregnancy rates after IVF and embryo transfer are < 25%, even after transfer of several embryos. Unfortunately, a third of these pregnancies involve multiple gestations. Research is currently focusing on methods to improve IVF success rates while reducing twin and triplet pregnancies and their associated increased morbidity and mortality. One approach is to develop screening methods to identify the most viable embryos, so that transfer of fewer healthy embryos will result in a higher proportion of singleton pregnancies. Screening methods include optimizing culture conditions for prolonged culture and selection of viable blastocysts for transfer, or embryo biopsy and aneuploidy screening. Assisted reproduction is also increasingly important in other branches of medicine: survival rates for cancer sufferers are improving continually and there is now a significant need for approaches to preserve fertility after sterilizing chemo-and radiotherapy treatment. Techniques for cryopreserving male and female gametes or gonadal tissue are being developed, although systems to grow and mature these gametes are in their infancy. Finally, there are also concerns regarding the safety of these new assisted reproductive technologies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Reproductive Science and Medicine, Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, UK. k.hardy@ic.ac.uk
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hardy
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Suman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rice
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tachataki
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Delyth
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spanos
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Taylor
mesh_terms: D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D015925:Cryopreservation; D046508:Culture Techniques; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000166:cytology; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009865:Oocytes / Q000166:cytology; D006080:Ovarian Follicle; D011247:Pregnancy; D019836:Preimplantation Diagnosis; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted / Q000639:trends*; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic