title: Is the polar body approach best for pre-implantation genetic screening?
abstract: Pre-implantation genetic screening is carried out with the aim of selecting oocytes or embryos that have the optimal chance of producing an ongoing pregnancy by eliminating those that have a detectable chromosomal anomaly. A variety of cells may be chosen for testing; the first polar body, with or without the corresponding second polar body, a single blastomere from a cleavage stage embryo or a group of cells from the trophectoderm at the blastocyst stage. This paper explains the different stages when aneuploidy may arise during oocyte development and the contribution made by post-zygotic aneuploidy to the overall burden as a basis for understanding the arguments for and against selecting polar bodies as the cells of choice for pre-implantation screening.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Women's Health, University College London, 86-96 Chenies Mews, London, WC1E 6HX, UK. j.delhanty@ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Joy D A
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Delhanty
mesh_terms: D000782:Aneuploidy; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations / Q000196:embryology; D025063:Chromosome Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005820:Genetic Testing / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008540:Meiosis / Q000235:genetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D059705:Polar Bodies / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D019836:Preimplantation Diagnosis / Q000379:methods*