Evolution Of Embryo Production

Only twenty years ago, embryo freezing (cryopreservation) was considered a technique that raised “disturbing,” “extremely difficult,” “incredibly complex,” and even “nightmarish” ethical issues. Currently, however, at least 41 of the 169 infertility clinics in the United States have begun to implement in vitro fertilization protocols (IVF) (Freemann et al., 1986). The number of frozen embryos in this country nearly tripled, from 289 to 824, between 1985 and 1986 (Van Steirteghem and Van Den Abbel, 1988). An estimated ten infants in the U.S. and sixty in the world were born as of 1988 after having been frozen as embryos. The government and professional advisory groups have endorsed embryo

In this age with rampant population growth and an agricultural industry unprepared to meet future demand, many in the industry and scientists in the field have discussed cloning cattle to meet these food demands. Concerns include whether cloned offspring and in turn their produce are safe and meet industry standards, whether the process treats animals inhumanely, the demands of the agricultural industry, the price of cloned produce and the long-term viability of such a method.

If a cow, displaying the ‘double muscled’ characteristic was produced, this enables the breeder to inbreed this cow, with the original homozygous recessive bull to create a purely ‘Belgian Blue’ breed. Other technology has increased the concentration of these desirable traits. To ensure farmers are not jeopardising their stock population, artificial insemination is a new form of genetic engineering technology. Artificial insemination/embryo breeding is a process that involves inserting the semen sample of a bull and inserting it into the heifers uterus. Or taking eggs from a heifer and semen from a bull and inserting into the uterus of another heifer. This process can increase the concentration of selective breeding as the cows with less desirable traits are enable to breed as farmers insert reproductive cells of the biggest and best cattle into to the average cows and therefore increase production of offspring. Embryo breeding has become reasonably affordable and therefore farmers can increase productivity to meet increased meat

Fortunately, successful cases in 1977 of new innovative technologies immersed for the reproductive practices which is in vitro fertilization (IVF). This allows women “whose ovaries and uterus were intact, so that they could produce eggs and gestate an embryo” (Hubbard & Newman, 2002, p.7). This enables parents to have predictive tests performed on the embryos before they are implanted, instead of aborting the

In “DON’T TRY TO ENGINEER HUMAN EMBRYOS,” Stuart A. Newman proposes a number of negative outcomes that could become very real should mankind choose to pursue genetic engineering on a mass scale. He explains that this technology, should it become available to the public, has the potential to cause the creation of a genetic caste system, the over manipulation of human genes to create non-human creations, and the high probability of birth defects or cancer among genetically altered creatures. There is a high level of bias within this article that raises questions about its reliability. He fails to use any real statistics to back up his argument, makes outrageous claims without backing them up, and stoops so low as to simply attempt to make a

embryos that are destined to be discarded in the course of IVF procedures and making them

Many women are eager to become a mother, but infertility prevents some women from satisfying this need. To counter this widespread problem, we develop reproductive choices. One of the most important choices is in vitro fertilization. Even though this method significantly increases pregnancy rate in infertile women, it comes with the problem. Underlying in vitro fertilization is research on living human embryos. We need to research on countless living embryos in order to develop clinical in vitro fertilization. This stirs public attention on its morality. Society asks: Are we killing thousands of human life while we are developing method to give birth to other ones? This question is crucial because it is asking very foundation of our

Good embryos were determined by those who had developed to the early morula stage or beyond, and they were considered bad embryo’s if they had not reached that stage. 70% of the ewes had between 5 to 9 follicles per day. The ewes in the lower performing group had fewer oocytes, good quality embryos, and corpora lutea when comparing them to the higher performing group. It was concluded that ewes in more than 8 follicles at the start of the estrous cycle had a better superovulatory response (higher quality embryo and more corpora lutea) than the ewes with fewer follicles. Although, the number of follicles had no influence on the ratio of good quality embryos per ewe. This finding seems to show the opposite of what has been found in cattle (Ward et al.,

Striving to find that common ground must incorporate patient’s rights and that the pursuit of future technologies in the reproduction area, as with all areas of medicine must calculate patient safety above all else; especially before profitability. For years, procedures such as In Vitro Fertilization has been marketed as a safe viable alternative method for reproduction, but at what cost ethically? According to the article In Vitro Fertilization: The Human

Inseminate livestock increase productivity and profit. Global Genetic Resources strive to help breeders who use their common sense. We supply all types of bovine semen and provide leading cattle artificial

Over the years many laws have been developed either in response to certain issues or to protect patients and their unborn fetus. One of the major ethical concerns is multiple births. Since this issue became noticed in the 1980’s many countries issued laws that require facilities to report the number of embryos transferred in an IVF cycle. However, there was no law limiting the amount of embryos transferred. Currently, there are many countries that do have laws restricting the amount of embryos to be transferred, in an effort to reduce the amount of multiple gestations (Brezina & Zhao, 2012). Multiple gestations, even in spontaneous pregnancies result in an increased in birth defects and other health related issues including pre-term babies and miscarriages. However, IVF has a higher chance of causing multiple pregnancies with as many as 8 embryos. Davies et al., (2012) found that “treatment with reproductive technology was associated with increased risks of cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, urogenital, and gastrointestinal defects and cerebral palsy” (p.1812).These risks must be considered and explained to the patient before procedures to follow the principle of autonomy. Another major concern with ART therapy is financing. For those individuals who are in high standing money is not an issue. However, others may have a difficult time scraping up the money needed for such procedures. Hagel

Many women are eager to become a mother, but infertility prevents some women from satisfying this need. However, modern biotechnologies combined with changed norms of culture now provide them reproductive choices such as in vitro fertilization. In order to develop these reproductive choices, we need to research on living human embryo. Because its procedures terminate the life of embryo, embryonic research stirs up public attention on its morality. Society questions if these methods are morally right. Do they violate the meaning of personhood and life? Do we kill a human when we research the embryos? These questions are asking our foundation of morality. We must be cautious and avoid any logical fallacies when we answer them. Using

The negative ethical impacts upon using this technology include the traumatizing or killing of an embryo during the freezing process, the effects due to human error and designer children. Despite the advancement of IVF and genetic technologies, the major downside is the care and treatment of the embryos. Even though most embryos survive all steps during the technology, 20-30% of the cryopreserved embryo’s fail to survive the thawing process, not to mention those damaged during the technologies process as well (Cryopreservation in human assisted reproduction is now routine for embryos but remains a research procedure for oocytes, 2015). This is unethical as they are a life form that hasn’t had the opportunity to experience life on earth and

Another issue that I have is when there is numerous embryos that are produced. Having over 400,000 embryos in storage is just ridiculous and unethical. Embryos is not merchandise, they are

There is a higher risk associated with multiple births, so if providers can prevent transferring multiple embryos at once, it can be beneficial to the live-birth outcome. In addition, using frozen embryos causes a reduction in the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) (Bhattacharya 241). Roque et. al. states that IVF outcomes are better when using frozen-thawed embryo transfers rather than fresh embryo transfers, as using fresh embryos requires the use of controlled ovarian stimulation (1). Controlled ovarian stimulation involves the use of several fertility medications to induce ovulation in multiple follicles. This results in having supraphysiologic hormonal levels in patients, which end up decreasing endometrial receptivity. Instead, Roque et. al. argues that it is better to use frozen-thawed embryos for transfer because embryo transfer is “performed later in a natural cycle, or in a cycle with hormonal replacement for endometrial priming” (1). This allows the transfer to occur in a more natural environment, thus increasing endometrial receptivity and allowing for implantation to occur. In a study performed by Chen et. al., infertile women with PCOS undergoing IVF were randomly assigned to groups undergoing fresh embryo transfer or frozen embryo transfer. It