Sampling of embryonic DNA after IVF without biopsy

April 3, 2013

In a recent study published in Reproductive Biomedicine Online, a group of researchers from Italy and the United Kingdom sought to achieve diagnose of genetic disease in embryonic DNA without the use of a biopsy. By extracting fluid from human embryos at the blastocyst stage they found that it contains DNA from the embryo. Blastocysts are 5 or 6 day old embryos and are at the last free-living stage that can be studied in the laboratory prior to transfer into the uterus. (Medical Xpress)