Resumen de Barcode sperm for error-free IVF
"Clinics are often working with several patients at once, and mistakes are made," says Carme Nogues at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain. Fertility clinics try to minimize the risk by electronically labeling the containers that store sperm and eggs, and ensuring all procedures are overseen by two embryologists. But neither approach is foolproof, says Nogues. "After a while, embryologists become relaxed and pay less attention," she says. So she has developed a method to label the sperm and egg cells themselves with tiny barcodes. The barcodes are made from polysilicon, the same material as in glass. Each tag is about a tenth of the width of a human egg and can be marked with patterns representing an eight-digit binary code--providing 256 possible combinations. To attach these barcodes to eggs, Nogues' team uses a protein that binds the carbohydrates on the cell's outer surface. To check that the right egg is being used, the barcode is simply read using a microscope before going ahead with the IVF procedure. The tag doesn't affect the egg itself, or the resulting embryo, and is shed by the embryo when it is implanted into the womb.
