Can IVF prevent the risk of thalassemia?

New Delhi, (IANS) In 2019, Pooja and Ankit (name changed) a thalassemia minor couple, planned a second baby to help their first-born child with the genetic disorder, who required blood transfusion on a fortnightly basis.With a second baby, the couple, aged 33 and 35, from Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur, hoped to provide a matching donor for their firstborn, 3 years old, and cure the disorder via stem-cell transplant.However, to ensure a healthy second baby, they opted for in vitro fertilisation (IVF).The woman underwent three IVF cycles, each requiring intensive hormonal stimulation. Each cycle entailed daily injections for a minimum of 10-12 days, followed by egg retrieval under anaesthesia.The process had to be repeated thrice to amass a sufficient pool of 16-18 embryos, ensuring the possibility of identifying at least one embryo free from thalassemia.Doctors at Jindal IVF, Chandigarh, combined in vitro fertilisation (IVF) technique with Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT) -- a breakthrough procedure, reportedly used for the second time in India -- resulting in a healthy newborn on April 4, 2024, and hope for thalassemia major patients.“IVF PGT is absolutely beneficial for thalassemia and all single gene disorders where the mutation involved is known and probably the only method available which can prevent passing on the affecting...

Read More........→May 20, 2024

Mystery of monarch migration takes new turn

Sun beams light the wings of monarchs resting in a tree in Mexico. Photo by Jaap de Roode. By Carol Clark: During the fall, hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies living in eastern North America fly up to 1,500 miles to the volcanic forests of Mexico to spend the winter, while monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains fly to the California coast. The phenomenon is both spectacular and mysterious: How do the insects learn these particular routes and why do they stick to them? A prevailing theory contends that eastern and western monarchs are genetically distinct, and that genetic mechanisms trigger their divergent migratory paths. An analysis led by Emory University biologists, however, finds that the two groups of monarchs are genetically mixed. Their research, published in the journal Molecular Ecology, suggests that environmental factors may be the key to the butterflies’ choice of winter homes, and to Fluttering monarchs fill the sky over Mexico. Photo by Jaap de Roode. where they wind up in the spring. “Our data gives the strongest signal yet that the eastern and western monarchs belong to a single genetic population,” says Emory biologist Jaap de Roode, who led the research. “This distinction is important to help us better understand the behavior of the organism, and to conserve the monarch...

Read More........→June 18, 2012