Women who have been struggling to start a family for years are finally getting pregnant thanks to a world first in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment, developed by researchers at the University of Adelaide.
BlastGen is the next phase of the highly successful EmbryoGen trial, which is a novel treatment option for couples undergoing IVF. Both EmbryoGen and BlastGen contain a signalling molecule called GM-CSF, which is found naturally in a mother’s uterus. GM-CSF protects the embryo from stress, making it stronger and more robust in the days following conception.
In the new BlastGen trial, the embryos are cultured for an additional two days (to the blastocyst stage), so that the best embryo can be selected on day five and implanted (compared with three days using EmbryoGen).
Only two places in the world (Adelaide and Japan) are conducting BlastGen trials and Associate Professor Louise Hull, researcher at the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Research Institute and Fertility Specialist CREI at Fertility SA, is leading the first Australian BlastGen clinical trial.
Couples undergoing IVF, where the female partner is 25-41, who have had at least two embryo transfers without implantation, poor embryo development or at least one miscarriage, are able to participate in the BlastGen trial.
For more information visit the Fertility SA website or contact Fertility SA on 8100 2900.
(It is also great to see this new story get some recent media coverage, including on Channel’s Seven and Nine.)