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Scientists Made Human Eggs From Skin Cells and Used Them to Form Embryos

In a controversial step that raises the possibility of a new kind of infertility treatment, scientists report that they have produced functional human eggs in the lab that were able to be fertilized with sperm. The proof-of-concept study, published today in the journal Nature Communications, involves using human skin cells to generate eggs, some of which were capable of producing early-stage embryos. None of the embryos were used to try to establish a pregnancy, and it’s unlikely that they wou

Scientists Made Human Eggs from Skin Cells and Used Them to Form Embryos

In a controversial step that raises the possibility of a new kind of infertility treatment, scientists report that they have produced functional human eggs in the lab that were able to be fertilized with sperm. The proof-of-concept study, published today in the journal Nature Communications, involves using human skin cells to generate eggs, some of which were capable of producing early-stage embryos. None of the embryos were used to try to establish a pregnancy, and it’s unlikely that they wou

Whole-Genome Sequencing Will Change Pregnancy

The world of pregnancy is going to radically change, predicts Noor Siddiqui. “I think that the default way people are going to choose to have kids is via IVF and embryo screening,” she said at the WIRED Health summit last week. “There’s just a massive amount of risk that you can take off of the table.” Siddiqui is the founder and CEO of Orchid, a biotech company that offers whole-genome screening of embryos for IVF. By analyzing the DNA of different embryos before selecting which one to implant

Scientists Just Caught Human Embryo Implantation on Camera

A team of researchers at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) in Spain has succeeded, for the first time, in recording in real time and in 3D the implantation of a human embryo. This achievement opens up the possibility of investigating in greater depth the causes of infertility and discovering new assisted reproduction treatments. Failure of embryo implantation in the uterus is one of the major barriers to pregnancy, and is associated with about 60 percent of miscarriages. This

In a First, Scientists Capture Human Embryo Implantation in Real Time

A team of scientists has just gotten a closer peek into one of the earliest and most fundamental steps of creating a human life. Research out today highlights how they captured—for the first time—footage of human embryo implantation right as it’s happening. Researchers at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), in collaboration with Dexeus University Hospital, detailed their work in a study published Friday in Science Advances. Among other things, the footage shows that human embr

How decades-old frozen embryos are changing the shape of families

Stories like this also highlight how reproductive technologies are shaping families. Thaddeus already has a 30-year-old sister and a 10-year-old niece. Lindsey and Tim are his birth parents, but his genes came from two other people who divorced decades ago. And while baby Thaddeus is a record-breaker, plenty of other babies have been born from embryos that have been frozen for significant spells of time. Thaddeus has taken the title of “world’s oldest baby” from the previous record-holders: tw

Exclusive: A record-breaking baby has been born from an embryo that’s over 30 years old

Cumbersome and explosive In the early days of IVF, embryos earmarked for storage were slow-frozen. This technique involves gradually lowering the temperature of the embryos. But because slow freezing can cause harmful ice crystals to form, clinics switched in the 2000s to a technique called vitrification, in which the embryos are placed in thin plastic tubes called straws and lowered into tanks of liquid nitrogen. This rapidly freezes the embryos and converts them into a glass-like state. The

Cyborg Embryos Offer New Insights into Brain Growth

Scientists have created cyborg embryos by implanting electrode arrays into the developing brains of frogs, mice, and salamanders. Although the researchers reject implants in human embryos as unethical, they suggest their technology might one day help study and treat neurodevelopmental conditions in children. The stretchable technology at the core of the electrode arrays could record brain activity while remaining soft enough to accommodate the children’s growth. Recording the activity of neuron