Fertilisation In The Laboratory

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31002, 7 March 1966, Page 2

Fertilisation In The Laboratory

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

NEW YORK, March 6. Two scientists are back on a somewhat neglected trail first blazed 22 years ago: that of fertilising a human egg with a human sperm in a laboratory flask, the “New York Times” News Service reported. Their work holds out fresh hope that one quarter of infertile women may be able to have their own babies. It promises a greater understanding of the cause of certain genetic defects, and it anticipates the possibility of preselecting potentially norma embryos in families prone to inherited abnormalities. The scientists, currently working an ocean apart, are using an improved technique recently developed by one of them. Dr. Robert Edwards, of the physiological laboratory at Cambridge University, in England. His colleague. Dr. H. W. Jones, is a gynaecologist at John Hopkins Hospital, in Baltimore. Their technique permits them to obtain large numbers of unfertilised eggs from relatively small amounts of ovarian tissue. Earlier Difficulties Previous efforts to experiment with externally fertilised eggs were abandoned mainly because the eggs were difficult to obtain and many hundreds of them had to be used before fertilisation was achieved. Dr. Jones explained that 25 per cent of infertile women were unable to conceive because the tubes between their ovaries and uterus were dam-

aged, diseased or closed. He said the new studies might also help women who were infertile because their ovaries were nonfunctioning or had been removed. Dr. Jones said that he and Dr. Edwards had removed egg cells from minute quantities of ovarian tissue, placed the cells in an artificial solution, closely watched their development, and carefully timed each stage. Penetration By Sperm Only at one stage of development were the egg cells ready for fertilisation. The scientists, who worked together last summer at John Hopkins, subjected about 100 such cells to sperm when the time was right. In a few cases, Dr. Jones said, they observed that sperm had penetrated eggs. They believe they achieved normal fertilisation—one sperm to to one egg—at least once. They were now studying techniques to further improve the rate of fertilisation.