What’s Next for the World’s 5 Million IVF Babies?

November 24, 2014

(The Guardian) – When in-vitro ferilisation (IVF) began in 1978, some scientists were worried that the babies born as a result of it might suffer birth defects and health problems. Intensive research in the early years, and a thriving population that has now grown to more than 5 million IVF children worldwide, have reassured scientists, but they have not stopped studying and trying to improve the process. Recent discoveries in epigenetics – the study of how environmental factors can affect gene activity, and how a person’s risk of getting chronic disease is “programmed” into them before they are even born – have opened up new possibilities.