IT MIGHT one day be possible to genetically test individual sperm cells before using them to fertilise an egg, claims Dmitri Dozortsev of the Roger Abdelmassih Clinic and Research Centre in S達o Paulo, Brazil.
At the moment, genetic testing during IVF usually involves taking one or two cells from an early embryo (New 卅繁消消, 25 October, p 12). If tests on these cells reveal a dangerous mutation, the embryo they came from is discarded.
A technique for screening sperm before fertilisation, together with existing methods for screening eggs, would help cut the number of embryos that have to…
