Word: vitro
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Researchers at George Washington University clone the first human embryos, and nuture them in vitro for several days...
...been 25 years--and a million births--since the arrival of Louise Joy Brown, the world's first test-tube baby, and you would think doctors would know by now if the procedure carried any extra risks. But only last year studies showed that babies conceived through in-vitro fertilization were more than twice as likely as naturally conceived babies to suffer major birth defects and nearly three times as likely to be born small, a significant risk factor for later cardiac and cognitive problems. It's doubtful either finding will deter many would-be parents who cannot conceive...
Methods of producing human embryos for research, including cloning and in vitro fertilization (IVF), have been the focus of political debate after the Bush administration restricted research from using federal funds for some types of research...
...fertility doctors know, however, success rates are notoriously hard to gauge. An in vitro center can tip the odds by selecting only the most promising candidates, or it can hurt its numbers by specializing in high-risk cases. So even if the latest improved success rates hold up to scientific scrutiny when they are published later this year, it's probably too soon to draw any broad conclusions...
...also too soon to tell what complications might arise. Even now, nearly 24 years after the first test-tube baby was born and with more than 30,000 children in the U.S. conceived in vitro each year, a controversial study recently suggested that those babies have a higher risk of genetic damage. "We need to have 700 or 800 babies to prove statistically that there is no increase in birth defects [for frozen-egg babies]," says Dr. Michael Opsahl of the Genetics and IVF Institute in Fairfax, Va. Kim doesn't buy that argument: "The bottom line...