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Articles on In vitro fertilization

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A few days after successful fertilization, an embryo becomes a rapidly dividing ball of cells called a blastocyst. Juan Gaertner/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

Promising assisted reproductive technologies come with ethical, legal and social challenges – a developmental biologist and a bioethicist discuss IVF, abortion and the mice with two dads

Scientists can create viable eggs from two male mice. In the wake of CRISPR controversies and restrictive abortion laws, two experts start a dialogue on ethical research in reproductive biology.
In an ectopic pregnancy, when the growing embryo causes a uterine tube rupture like the one in this micrograph, the patient could die from internal bleeding or infection without emergency surgery. Cultura RM Exclusive/Michael J. Klein, M.D./Image Source via Getty Images

What is ectopic pregnancy? A reproductive health expert explains

Treating a potentially deadly pregnancy complication gets caught up in the abortion debate. A nurse-midwife explains why it shouldn’t.
Louise Brown, who was the world’s first baby to be born from in vitro fertilization (IVF) in 1978, poses with equipment used in early IVF treatments. Daniel Leal-Olivas/ Getty

The fertility industry is poorly regulated – and would-be parents can lose out on having children as a result

An unknown number of people have lost their dreams of parenthood because of storage disasters at fertility clinics. These experts note poor government oversight and the need for stronger regulation.
A human blastocyst. Researchers have now created ‘model’ versions of this early embryonic structure by reprogramming human skin cells. Harimiao/Wikimedia Commons

Researchers have grown ‘human embryos’ from skin cells. What does that mean, and is it ethical?

Two research groups have turned human skin cells into structures resembling an early-stage human embryo, paving the way for exciting new research avenues, and opening up some tricky ethical questions.
When it comes to reproduction, couple have more choices than ever before. Chinnapong/Shutterstock.com

What the ban on gene-edited babies means for family planning

A ban on clinical trials involving gene editing rules out the controversial procedure done in China. But it also prevents procedures that could offer couples a chance for healthy children without genetic disorders.
In a masterfully manipulative Youtube video, He Jiankui tells the world about the first genetically edited babies. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

YouTube, persuasion and genetically engineered children

To announce the world’s first gene-edited babies, scientist He Jiankui did what movie directors do: release a trailer on YouTube. The video is a positive spin on unauthorized gene editing.
He Jiankui, a Chinese researcher, speaks during the Human Genome Editing Conference in Hong Kong, Nov. 28, 2018. He made his first public comments about his claim of making the world’s first gene-edited babies. AP Photo/Kin Cheung

How a scientist says he made a gene-edited baby – and what health worries may ensue

Chinese researcher He Jiankui told a spellbound audience how he created gene-edited babies. With a couple of revealing slides, we can see what he did and speculate what health problems might ensue.
New procedures are enabling men and women to preserve their fertility until they are ready or able to have children. By kristiillustra/shutterstock.com

40 years after the birth of IVF, researchers push boundaries to preserve fertility in women, men and children

For women and men not ready to have children, there are new ways to preserve fertility. And experimental techniques offer hope for sick children whose treatments jeopardize future childbearing.
By Fakhrul Najmi

How can a baby have 3 parents?

The concept of three-parent babies defies what we learned in health class. But how and when is the third parent involved? At what stage? Jennifer Barfield gives us an update on the birds and the bees.

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