Cellular memory of DNA damage in oocyte quality control

Females are born with a finite number of eggs that are steadily depleted throughout their lifetime. This reserve of eggs is selected from a much larger pool of millions of precursor cells, or oocytes, that form during fetal life. So there is a substantial amount of quality control during the process of forming an egg […]

Association of culture medium with growth, weight and cardiovascular development of IVF children at the age of 9 years

STUDY QUESTION: Is embryo culture media used during an IVF/ICSI treatment associated with differences in growth, body composition and cardiovascular development as determined in 9-year-old singleton IVF children? SUMMARY ANSWER: The choice of in vitro culture medium for human embryos is associated with differences in body weight, BMI, truncal adiposity, waist circumference and waist/hip ratio […]

For women undergoing IVF, is fresh or frozen embryo transfer best?

The world’s first baby born via in-vitro fertilization turned 40 years old this summer. Still, after four decades, IVF is a relatively new field with ongoing debate on how to get the best results for families who have placed their hopes—and often their personal savings—into fertility treatment. IVF experts disagree about whether transferring a fresh […]

Best practice in the diagnosis and treatment of varicocele in children and adolescents

Overview A varicocele is defined as an abnormal dilation and tortuosity of the pampiniform plexus venous system that drains the testis. The prevalence of varicocele in the adolescent population has been shown to mirror that of adults. A recent European study that included over 7000 patients found a 15.7% varicocele rate in young males with […]

Does a nut-rich diet lead to better sperm quality?

Sperm count is on the decline in Western societies, according to recent studies, which means that men’s reproductive health is suffering. How can it be improved? A healthful diet that is abounding in nuts might help, researchers suggest. In 2017, a large meta-analysis focusing on men’s reproductive health in Western countries found that sperm concentration, […]

Animating embryos: thein totorepresentationof life

In the preface to the tenth and latest edition of his authoritative textbook on developmental biology, Scott F. Gilbert states that the science of becoming is currently itself undergoing a ‘metamorphic molt’, at the end of which there will be an as ‘yet unnamed developmental science’. 1 To a large extent, systems biology is responsible […]

Should we forget about embryos till day 5?

INTRODUCTION On the basis of bibliography of the last years, there is a trend toward blastocyst transfer rather than cleavage embryo transfer. There are several studies that point out that blastocyst transfer could achieves better results [1&]. Culture media is one of the most important factors in in-vitro fertilization (IVF); it can affect live birth […]