Preimplantation diagnosis may neurological risks

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) has helped introduce many couples, children in good health and is widely regarded as a security procedure. However, a new analysis of long-term PID in mice indicates that this procedure may be the risk of weight gain and memory decline in adulthood.

The PID is next to assisted reproductive technologies to ensure couples, the holders of genetic disease (eg aschkenasischen Jews, a high incidence of Tay-Sachs, when their people) do not pass on genes defective children. While the CIO is not opinion, still no serious health risks, the procedure is not the manipulation of the embryo developing in the long term and no rigorous studies have been carried out.

Huo Ran, Qi Zhou and colleagues with a mouse model to examine how a biopsy of blastomeres, as the key when handling PGD procedure, to affect fetuses, infants and adult development.

They discovered that there were no differences in the development of the embryo before implantation in the uterus and biopsy control in accordance with the results in humans. But after the successful birth biopsy embryos were significantly lower than controls.

After the birth, one of many physical properties and behavior, both groups of mice were in many respects, although mice of the group average weight of biopsy and poorest maze memory tests. For a more detailed picture of the defects of memory, the authors, a proteomic analysis of adult mouse heads, 36 proteins displayed significant differences between the biopsy and control, 17 of which are closely linked to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Down's syndrome.

The authors stress that the development of the nervous system may be sensitive to the biopsy of blastomeres, and that further studies should be conducted for a possible long term negative impact of IDPs to ensure safety