Embryo cultures predict womb survival

MORRISTOWN, N.J., May 29 (UPI) -- U.S. doctors said Tuesday they have discovered that embryos give clues whether they will be viable when implanted into a woman.

By analyzing the culture that surrounds the embryo before it is placed in the womb, doctors suggest they can increase the odds of producing a healthy child.

Richard Scott, a founder of Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey, based in Morristown, said that differences in a scoring system -- created through biospectroscopy-based technology -- indicate which embryos will thrive and which will not.

"We have identified a direct correlation between changes in embryo culture medium and pregnancy rates," said Scott, a clinical professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive science at the Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine, a division of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in New Brunswick.

"This study shows for the first time that the most viable embryos have a distinct and measurable impact on the culture medium used to nurture them before implantation. Based on these findings, in-vitro fertilization centers around the world may some day be able to analyze culture medium to instantly identify embryos that are most likely to implant and achieve a pregnancy."

Scott analyzed outcomes with 35 embryos implanted in 14 women. The level of relative hydroxyl modifications of various molecular constituents of the culture media could identify which embryos survived and developed into healthy babies, he reported at the American Association of Bioanalysts last week in Orlando.

"This could help us to reduce the number of embryos implanted and the risk of multiple births in in-vitro fertilization procedures," Scott said. "No one has ever taken this approach in embryo viability to date."