Pre-implantation Genetics

The “holy grail” of reproductive medicine is to discover a technology allowing identification of those embryos that have true reproductive potential as evidenced by implantation, normal obstetrical course, and delivery of a healthy infant. While it may seem counter-intuitive that a normally developing embryo cannot implant, the reality is that many factors limit reproductive competence of the embryo that do not impact these early morphologic markers. Chief amongst these are the meiotic and mitotic errors that lead to an imbalance in the number of chromosomes present in the embryo, termed embryonic aneuploidy.

Embryonic aneuploidy is a significant factor in limiting the efficiency of reproduction, even amongst young women. We have extensively studied and validated aneuploidy testing and shown it to be a beneficial tool when applied clinically. Studies continue to further investigate the causes of aneuploidy, better determine normality, and perhaps one day provide therapy.