On 10 March 1988, China?s first baby conceived through human in vitro [5] fertilization [6] (IVF) and embryo transfer [7] (ET), commonly referred to as a test-tube baby [8], was born at the Peking University Third Hospital [9] (PUTH) in Beijing. This birth was reported in numerous media reports as a huge step forward in China?s long march to keep pace with global advances in science and technol...

A computer-assisted three-dimensional (3D) system, 3D-DIASemb, has been developed that allows reconstruction and motion analysis of cells and nuclei in a developing embryo. In the system, 75 optical sections through a live embryo are collected in the z axis by using differential interference contrast microscopy. Optical sections for one reconstruction are collected in a 2.5-s period, and this p...

BACKGROUND Fertilization, cell division and embryo development depend on genomic contributions from male and female gametes. We hypothesize that teratozoospermic sperm influences early embryo development and embryo compaction. METHODS We conducted a retrospective analysis of embryos derived from intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles. Two hundred thirty-five consecutive ICSI cycles we...

Ooplasmic transplantation aimed at restoring normal growth in developmentally compromised oocytes and embryos was evaluated in seven couples (eight cycles) with multiple implantation failures. Two approaches were investigated to transfer ooplasm from donor eggs at metaphase II (MII) stage into patient MII eggs: (i) electrofusion of a ooplasmic donor fragment into each patient egg (three cycles)...

The aim of this study was to validate the overall preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD)-PCR procedure and to determine the diagnostic value. Genotyped embryos not selected for embryo transfer (ET) and unsuitable for cryopreservation after PGD were used for confirmatory analysis. The PGD genotyped blastomeres and corresponding embryos were compared, and morphology was scored on Day 4 post fert...

The Remolar beach-dune system (700 m long and more than 100 wide, 070N direction) borders a campground that was closed (2003), due to the Barcelona airport expansion. In order recover restore dune ecosystem, series of soft measures were performed. After 10 years, study morphology, sedimentology, vegetation ecosystem carried out evaluate results these measures. For this purpose, topographic grou...