The Coming Revolution in the Embryology Lab: Microfluidic Embryo Culture
By: Andrew Dorfmann, M.S. ELD(ABB)
In some ways, the Human Embryology Laboratory has come a long way since the early days of IVF when I began in this field. Culture media and conditions have been improved and we now have tools to micro-manipulate sperm and oocytes to assist with fertilization and biopsy embryos. But the basic culture set-up looks and feels largely the same as it did back in the early 1980’s. Gametes and embryos are placed in static drops of culture medium in Petri dishes (not usually the proverbial “test tube”) and cultured in incubators which control temperature and the gaseous environment.
Fortunately, in recent years, the blending of physics and biology is sparking a revolution in the cell biology laboratory, and the Embryology Lab may be a promising new target. The nascent science of Microfluidics has taken the cell biology world by storm and in the next few years may transform the way tissue culture is performed. It turns out that fluids behave differently in micro environments than they do in the macro environments we are used to handling in the laboratory and these differences in fluid flow can be utilized in beneficial ways. Also, by using micro environments, we may begin to more closely imitate the actual environment that gametes and embryos experience inside the human body.
A group of researchers, led by Dr. Gary Smith at the University of Michigan have been developing microfluidic embryo culture devices. This system has shown very promising data when used on animal embryos. Mouse embryo culture was dramatically improved when they were grown in these devices and now they are in the early phase of clinical trials. The device is a simple gas permeable “chip” in which micro fluidic flow is controlled by computer and can be placed in a conventional incubator. The potential benefits of these kinds of devices are multifactorial. They more closely mimic the natural environment both in the sense of scale and in the fact that the embryos are in a dynamic environment rather than a static one. These devices also have the potential to eliminate or at least reduce some of the very labor intensive work that must now be done in the embryology lab in which embryos must be moved from one solution in one dish to another. Lastly, the spent media from these devices have the potential to be analyzed and used diagnostically to more accurately choose the best embryo for transfer. All together these innovations have the potential to improve pregnancy rates and revolutionize the way in which the modern human embryology lab functions.
The coming years are likely to be filled with great advances in Assisted Reproductive Technologies and microfluidic embryo culture is likely to be one of the biggest stars.
In some ways, the Human Embryology Laboratory has come a long way since the early days of IVF when I began in this field. Culture media and conditions have been improved and we now have tools to micro-manipulate sperm and oocytes to assist with fertilization and biopsy embryos. But the basic culture set-up looks and feels largely the same as it did back in the early 1980’s. Gametes and embryos are placed in static drops of culture medium in Petri dishes (not usually the proverbial “test tube”) and cultured in incubators which control temperature and the gaseous environment.
Fortunately, in recent years, the blending of physics and biology is sparking a revolution in the cell biology laboratory, and the Embryology Lab may be a promising new target. The nascent science of Microfluidics has taken the cell biology world by storm and in the next few years may transform the way tissue culture is performed. It turns out that fluids behave differently in micro environments than they do in the macro environments we are used to handling in the laboratory and these differences in fluid flow can be utilized in beneficial ways. Also, by using micro environments, we may begin to more closely imitate the actual environment that gametes and embryos experience inside the human body.
A group of researchers, led by Dr. Gary Smith at the University of Michigan have been developing microfluidic embryo culture devices. This system has shown very promising data when used on animal embryos. Mouse embryo culture was dramatically improved when they were grown in these devices and now they are in the early phase of clinical trials. The device is a simple gas permeable “chip” in which micro fluidic flow is controlled by computer and can be placed in a conventional incubator. The potential benefits of these kinds of devices are multifactorial. They more closely mimic the natural environment both in the sense of scale and in the fact that the embryos are in a dynamic environment rather than a static one. These devices also have the potential to eliminate or at least reduce some of the very labor intensive work that must now be done in the embryology lab in which embryos must be moved from one solution in one dish to another. Lastly, the spent media from these devices have the potential to be analyzed and used diagnostically to more accurately choose the best embryo for transfer. All together these innovations have the potential to improve pregnancy rates and revolutionize the way in which the modern human embryology lab functions.
The coming years are likely to be filled with great advances in Assisted Reproductive Technologies and microfluidic embryo culture is likely to be one of the biggest stars.
posted by Kathleen, Contributing Editor at
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