women of the United States are growing older. Data from the center for Disease Control and prevention in the United States showed that the average birth age of women in the United States in 2013 was 26 years old, and many of them had more than 35 years of age, or even more than 40 years old. Norbert Gretchen (Norbert Gleicher), founder and chief scientist of the Center for Human Reproduction, New York fertility clinic, says this trend will continue. Gretchen also predicted that the increase in fertility related technology would allow older women to have children.
gage said: "we will reach a threshold. Age will no longer be a problem. Almost any age woman can conceive." To achieve this hypothetical goal, that is, childbearing has nothing to do with age, a great deal of research is needed. To achieve this goal, scientists have been working on this:
the annual meeting of the American Institute of reproductive medicine (ASRM) and the American University of Obstetrics and gynecology (ACOG) in a laboratory, and a report in a report of the year of women. Age related reproductive decline is associated with a decline in the number and quality of cells that develop into mature ovaries in the ovary. These cells that develop into eggs are surrounded by other cells, thus caring for and helping the cells develop into oocytes. The problem with
is the problem of follicles. Women naturally have about 1 million follicles. Only a small part of them can develop into reproductive eggs, and most of the other follicles are locked up one after another. Gretchen said that we can take a small amount of ovarian tissue with immature follicles and grow it into eggs in the laboratory. At present, scientists have been able to achieve in mice, the eggs generated have survived the survival of mice.
researchers are continuing to study, hoping to be used in the future. If this goal is achieved, doctors will be able to store more eggs for future use, and the amount of storage will be far more than the current refrigeration technology.
another way to produce more eggs (more than the natural number of human beings) by using common cells to produce sperm and egg
more eggs (more than the natural number of human beings) is to produce eggs by using human normal cells, that is, "somatic cells". First, the somatic cells can be transformed into stem cells that can generate many different kinds of cells in the body, and then generate eggs.
animal sperm and eggs produced by this method have developed the next generation, and scientists have produced human sperm by inducing pluripotent stem cells. Although there are still some problems in the safety and effectiveness of the process, Gretchen believes that the technology of using somatic cells to produce human sperm and eggs in the next 10 years will be mature.
embryo screening
one of the core problems faced by older women trying to get pregnant is that their eggs and fertilized embryos are likely to have genetic abnormalities to prevent embryos from producing healthy babies. This means that older women are less likely to have in vitro fertilization than young women. The odds of having specific genetic problems are much higher than those of young women.
in the process of in vitro fertilization, scientists have developed multiple fertilized embryos by providing eggs and sperm in the laboratory and transplanted them into the uterus. To move the embryo that is most likely to develop into a healthy baby, a doctor can carry out an DNA analysis of the embryonic cells, known as "genetic screening before embryo transfer".
an abnormal number of chromosomes in human embryos is a common phenomenon, so the aim of "gene screening before embryo transfer" is to move embryos with normal chromosomes into the uterus. There is no doubt that this method makes in vitro fertilization more efficient, but researchers have pointed out that there is not enough data to support us.
Kutluk Oktay, a fertility expert, says the technology will become more effective in the next 4~5 years, and the indicators tested are no longer limited to the number of chromosomes. He said: "with the improvement of this technology, we will be able to test embryos more comprehensively in the future, greatly improve the power and reduce the number of attempts."
editing human embryo
may be a long time target, but recently there have been reports that Chinese scientists have edited the human embryo gene. Although this involves many ethical and technical issues, Gretchen believes that the technology will help older women to repair their genetic abnormalities in the future.
the survival rate of these embryos will be greatly improved, thus helping older women to solve a major obstacle to fertility.
supplemented ovum
in addition to gene abnormality, there may be other problems in oocytes of older women. Under the influence of cell age, mitochondria, a organelle that is enclosed in two layers of membrane in most cells, can be seriously damaged by the cells that make energy in the cells, Okai said.
for older women who have not been successful in IVF, scientists are trying to improve their egg quality in many ways. Aoki believes that this is an exciting field of research. One way to strengthen eggs by
OvaScience is to use the mitochondria in the stem cells of women's uterine lining to supplement the original eggs. The therapy, known as the "Augment therapy", is the result of higher mitochondrial mass in young women's eggs, which transplants mitochondria from young female eggs into older women's eggs to increase the success rate of older women.
of course, there are still many problems to be solved in the process, not to mention adding the possible effects of mitochondria on infants. Whether this method can become the final choice of older women, a lot of research and experiments are needed.
we need to get ready for
, "she said." medicine is constantly evolving, which means it will be a slow process. While predicting future medical technology is a complex problem, Gretchen believes that some of the technical problems facing women's pregnancy in the next 10 years will be solved. It may take another 10 years for these technologies to mature and benefit older women.
Grenet said in a recent report, "if we do get to the point that age does not affect fertility, we hope that the medical community and society are ready for this revolution."
original search: Doctors are buzzing about these technologies that could let could