Inter-program variation in donor oocyte aneuploidy rate

Oocyte development, meiosis and aneuploidy.

Meiosis is one of the defining events in gametogenesis. Male and female germ cells both undergo one round of meiotic cell division during their development in order to reduce the ploidy of the gametes, and thereby maintain the ploidy of the species after fertilisation. However, there are some aspects of meiosis in the female germline, such as the prolonged arrest in dictyate, that appear to pre...

Oocyte donor selection from 554 candidates.

Oocyte donation is a technique in full expansion in the field of human reproduction. The main problem with this technique is the shortage of oocytes. In our programme, prospective donors are selected from anonymous, well-informed university students over 18 years of age, who give their informed consent in writing. Before being accepted as donors, the candidates' personal and family medical hist...

Rare donor program in Japan.

Oocyte shuttle, a recombinant protein transporting donor DNA into the Xenopus oocyte in situ

The newly developed oocyte shuttle protein contains a streptavidin moiety that tightly binds biotinylated DNA. Injected intravenously into adult Xenopus females, the protein-DNA complex is rapidly transported through the bloodstream and, within the ovary, the vitellogenin ligand present in the protein binds to the receptors at the surface of the oocytes. The bound complex is internalized and tr...

Donor age is paramount to success in oocyte donation.

Several reports suggest increasing age in oocyte donors decreases the chances of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) success, while others describe no effect. The published data concerning gravidity and parity are similarly conflicting. To further address these questions, we retrospectively studied 445 consecutive donor IVF cycles at two large university-based IVF practices. Donor cycles were analysed...