Find more facts and information on our topic page about
embryo
embryo biopsy
embryo biopsy or preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), diagnostic procedure, used in genetic screening , in which a single cell is removed from an embryo two or three days after it has been conceived through in vitro fertilization . At this age the embryo consists of about eight genetically identical cells. The embryo itself is unaffected and continues to grow while the selected cell's genes are replicated using polymerase chain reaction and then studied for genetic defects. The procedure allows an embryo to be tested before it is implanted into the womb when an inheritable disease or a genetic predisposition to a disease is carried by or exhibited in one or both parents.
Embryo biopsy has been used successfully to screen for such diseases as cystic fibrosis and Tay-Sachs as well as for genes that predispose a person to breast or colon cancer. The procedure can also be used to determine the gender of the embryo. Given this ability, X-chromosome-linked diseases that manifest only in males ( hemophilia , for example) can be "screened" by implanting only female embryos (which will carry but will not develop the disease). Another variation, used for women over 35 (women past that age being statistically more likely to give birth to babies with Down syndrome and other chromosomal defects) involves examining the sample to make sure it has the correct number of chromosomes. Embryo biopsy has also been used to select a child who is a compatible donor for a sibling with a life-threatening disease such as certain anemias and leukemias.
See also amniocentesis ; birth defects ; chorionic villus sampling .
Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.
|
Unthawing Frozen Embryos: The Legal & Ethical Conundrum of Embryo Adoption
Magazine article from: Human Life Review; 1/1/2009; ; 700+ words
; ...of their remaining embryos to other couples. The process of embryo donation typically...began the Snowflakes Embryo Adoption Program, states that "when embryos are created, Ufe...the child." Its embryo adoption program...Snowflakes because embryos are unique and fragile...
|
|
Embryos and us.(Brief Article)
Magazine article from: The Christian Century; 8/1/2001; 700+ words
; ...involves the murder of embryos, or argue that every embryo created by IVF...the view that the embryo is just a commodity...contrast, the embryos stored at fertility...research on existing embryos will allow humans...freedom. Barring embryo manufacturing will...
|
 "Chicago Tribune (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)")
|
Embryo donations fuel stem cell debate.
Newspaper article from: Chicago Tribune (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service); 9/15/2002; 700+ words
; ...the family as an embryo donated by another...area couple with embryos to spare after a...rights have touted embryo donation as a better use of embryos than embryonic stem...elevate the rights of embryos call the process embryo adoption and argue...
|
|
Embryos in freezer: A dilemma for couples Unforeseen upshot of fertility treatment
Newspaper article from: International Herald Tribune; 12/5/2008; ; 700+ words
; ...to let them know that frozen embryos may result and that deciding...said discussions about the embryos should be "revisited, and not happen just at the time of embryo freezing, because people...their way of thinking about embryos change as time passes and they...
|
|
Embryos' cold cruel world
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 3/7/1999; ; 700+ words
; ...said, look on their embryos "like little babies...acceptable to discard surplus embryos, and the practice is...University. Thawing a frozen embryo and allowing it to die...Center. Removing an embryo from its nitrogen tank...Furton added that surplus embryos wouldn't exist if everyone...
|
|
Embryo donations fuel stem cell debate
Newspaper article from: Charleston Gazette; 10/7/2002; ; 700+ words
; ...the family as an embryo donated by another...area couple with embryos to spare after a...rights have promoted embryo donation as a better use of embryos than embryonic stem...elevate the rights of embryos call the process embryo adoption and argue...
|
 "Tulsa World (Tulsa, OK)")
|
Embryo innovation: Adoption now an option for frozen embryos.
Newspaper article from: Tulsa World (Tulsa, OK); 8/24/2006; 700+ words
; ...old, gave their embryos to an infertile couple...through Snowflakes Embryo Adoption Program...options are to have the embryos destroyed or donate...who consider an embryo to be a child. After...that is born. The embryos are still frozen. Since Snowflakes began embryo adoption in ...
|
 "Albany Times Union (Albany, NY)")
|
FROZEN EMBRYOS AND ABORTION.(Main)
Newspaper article from: Albany Times Union (Albany, NY); 6/10/1992; 700+ words
; ...disposition of unused or unwanted embryos part of the consent process. The...assigning personhood to an eight-cell embryo or giving an embryo the same legal...Sue Davis' interest in donating the embryos is not as significant as the interest...
|
|
Embryos: Drawing the Line
Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 10/2/1994; 700+ words
; ...might be helped by embryo research? What...use of "extra" embryos left over from...said a developing embryo merits "serious...moral status of embryos younger than 14...or the use of embryos past 14 days; it restricts embryo creation to...
|
|
Frozen Embryos Can Be Destroyed, Courts Rule.(Brief Article)
Magazine article from: National Right to Life News; 10/12/1998; ; 700+ words
; ...unborn children by deciding that tiny human embryos, once intended to be used for in vitro...both involve couples who created the embryos while married but later divorced without...considered the humanity of the frozen embryos, but based the decision solely on contract...
|
|
Embryo Transfer
Encyclopedia entry from: The Gale Encyclopedia of Science
...vitro fertilization, embryo culture, preservation of embryos by freezing (cryopreservation...increased successes in embryo implantation. Selection of embryos is an important issue...Events used to score the embryos include embryo metabolism assessment...
|
|
Embryo and Embryonic Development
Encyclopedia entry from: UXL Encyclopedia of Science
Embryo and embryonic development The term embryo applies to the earliest form of life, produced when an egg...functions that will be needed in the adult plant or animal. An embryo is a living organism, like a full-grown rose bush, frog...
|
|
embryo
Book article from: World Encyclopedia
...usually called a larva . In plants, the embryo is found in the seed, and the embryo stage ends on germination . An embryo results when the nuclei of a gamete...a blastula . In 2004, thirty human embryos were cloned in South Korea. See also...
|
|
embryo biopsy
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
...exhibited in one or both parents. Embryo biopsy has been used successfully...determine the gender of the embryo. Given this ability, X...by implanting only female embryos (which will carry but will...correct number of chromosomes. Embryo biopsy has also been used to...
|
|
embryo sac
Book article from: A Dictionary of Plant Sciences
embryo sac The female gametophyte (an oval structure...fertilization of the egg and development of the embryo . It consists of 6 haploid cells without...to form a zygote which develops into the embryo. The second male nucleus fuses with the...
|
