Modern Applications

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Modern Applications

• What are we able to do with the knowledge we have
  today?
• In vitro fertilization ( IVF)and assisted
  reproduction
• Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis PGD
• Stem Cell Research

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Indications for IVF

• Absent or damaged fallopian tubes
• Ovarian failure
• Severe endometriosis
• Age related infertility
• Low sperm counts
• Unexplained infertility
• Need for PGD usually because of family history
  of genetic disease

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IVF
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In vitro Fertilization (IVF)
Blastocyst (5 days)
Oocyte
Fertilized Egg/Zygote
Sperm
Implantation
Over a million such babies already born
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In Vitro Fertilization

• 7,800 per cycle
• 30-40 pregnancy rate depending on age and health
  of mother
• 2-3 embryos transferred (higher chances for
  twinning than in in vivo fertilization)
• Embryos replaced at the 4-cell to blastocyst
  stages
• Over a million babies born
• Babies healthy

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Preimplantation genetic Diagnosis (PGD) Removal
of 1 blastomere (totipotent cell) for genetic
analysis.

• Hemophilia A
• Muscular Dystrophy
• Tay-Sachs Disease
• Cystic Fibrosis
• Down Syndrome
• Hungtingtons
• Thalassemias
• Chromosome translocations
• And more

Removal of one cell for testing
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8-cell embryo ( 3 days) ready for PGD
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Biopsized blastomere
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and PGD of chromosome abnormalities

• Patients with normal karyotypes who suffer from
  recurrent spontaneous abortions
• Aneuploidy screening usually for female patients
  with advanced maternal age
• Carriers of chromosome translocations, and other
  chromosome rearrangements

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Blastomere from XX embryo
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PGD in TRANSLOCATION
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Impact of IVF and PGD part 1
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Ethical considerations?

• What ethical issues do you see with the modern
  applications of cellular biology?
• How can we overcome these possible problems
  without compromising our ethics?

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Some issues to consider

• What should we do with embryos generated via
  in-vitro fertilization but not replaced
• Generating offspring to be donors for ailing
  children? (PGD IVF applications)
• Implications of IVF and PGD applications to have
  offspring with a certain gender only?
• Variability and desirability of offspring (IVF
  and PGD)

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Web resources

• http//learn.genetics.utah.edu
• http//www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/miracle/program.html

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