New breakthrough for infertility!

Welcome to my blog about Biology. In this post I will be explaining a recent discovery in the field of biology and how it is important. The link to the discovery is here. By the end of this post you should understand how infertile women can turn fertile and why this is important for women, increasing our population and cell growth .

Discovery[1]

Researchers in Stanford University School of Medicine have found a way to "waken" the ovaries of infertile women, so that the women can start producing healthy and fertile eggs. The technique which they have used is called in vitro activation.

Their research was experimented on 27 women with primary ovarian insufficiency in Japan. 5 of which have produced fertile eggs and 1 woman has given birth to a healthy baby.

Although this technique has not been tested on different types of infertility and on many women, the researchers are planning to investigate the technique further. They will try to cure women with early menopause due to chemotherapy or radiation and infertile women between 40-50 years.

Infertility

Infertility is the disability to make or conceive a baby. In other words, if you are infertile, you cannot impregnate anyone and you cannot become pregnant yourself. It affects about 10% of all couples: 1/3 of the time it is due to women, 1/3 is due to men and the last third infertility is due to both men and women or because of an unknown cause.[2]

There are 2 types of infertility: primary and secondary.

Primary is when a couple has been trying for a baby for a year without any birth control methods and there is no result.
Secondary is when a couple has already had a baby and they can not become pregnant a second time.

Infertility in women 

Infertility in women can be caused by many factors such as smoking, eating disorders, old age, chemotherapy, cancer, hormone imbalances. Infertility can also occur when the egg in the ovary of the female does not mature, the fertilized egg does not attach itself to the lining of the uterus, or when the egg can not move itself from the ovary to the womb.[3]

The women which were tested on had primary ovarian insufficiency which is a type of infertility. Primary ovarian insufficiency is the terminology used when a woman's ovaries stop working properly before the age of 40. This means that they do not have their monthly menstrual period or they have them irregularly. The irregularity of their menstrual period is the result of problems with ovulation which leads to failure in fertilization.[4] 

In vitro Activation[5]

Women in total have about 400,000 follicles, 400 of which are used for production of eggs. When these 400 follicles are used up and do not produce anymore eggs, problems start to arise. 

In in vitro activation, doctors take one ovary from their patient by laproscopic surgery and using only a small part of ovarian tissue, presence of follicles is determined. When follicles are detected, the doctor "wakes" the inactive follicles by treating the ovarian tissues with IVA drugs. After 2 days, the ovarian pieces are put back into the patient near the oviduct. When the follicles become mature, the mature eggs in them are removed and fertilized with the sperm of the husband in the laboratory to make early embryo's. These embryo's are frozen in an early stage and the patient from which the ovary was taken from is treated with hormones to get her ready for implantation and pregnancy. The embryo is then thawed and transferred to the patient.

Source: http://www.ivafertility.com/IVA/images/diagram.png

Importance

Most women who stop producing fertile eggs may feel like they have stopped being a woman all-together. In addition, finding out that you are infertile at a young age is devastating. However, this discovery has given a chance for women with ovarian insufficiency to have a baby and maybe to reach happiness in their own sense. 

Also, for countries that have low birth rates and that are looking for a solution to this problem, IVA can help. 

IVA also shows that our cells are very prone to adaptation and that other diseases or maybe even age-related disorders are curable.

In conclusion, this technique will be tested on different women with different types of infertility and women in menopause.

References:

1. "Stanford-developed Technique Induces Egg Growth in Infertile Women, and One Gives Birth." News Center. September 30, 2013. Accessed October 30, 2014. http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2013/09/technique-induces-egg-growth-in-infertile-women-and-one-gives-birth.html.
2."Infertility in Women In-Depth Report." The New York Times. Accessed October 30, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/infertility-in-women/print.html.
3.Board, A.D.A.M. "Infertility." Infertility. February 24, 2014. Accessed October 30, 2014. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002173/.
4."Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (POI): Overview." Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (POI): Overview. Accessed October 30, 2014. http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/POI/Pages/default.aspx.

5."Iva Fertility." IVA Fertility. January 1, 2013. Accessed October 30, 2014. http://www.ivafertility.com/IVA/index.html.