Assisted reproductive technology (ART)

Published on June 30, 2022   48 min

Other Talks in the Series: The Female Reproductive System: from Basic Science to Fertility Treatments

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0:00
My name is Tal Imbar, and I'm a medical doctor, the Head of the Fertility Preservation Service in the In Vitro Fertilization Unit of the Hadassah Hospital, which is the Hebrew University Medical Center. I want to talk to you about the Assisted Reproductive Technology, ART, in vitro fertilization, intracytoplasmic sperm injection and all other things that correlate to this new technology.
0:31
The lecture will include an introduction about the history of IVF and then a detailed explanation about assisted reproduction technologies. I will talk about the ovarian stimulation, its goals, and how it achieves the fertilization of the oocyte by the sperm and then embryo transfer and implantation. I will talk about gamete and embryo freezing and our new freezing technologies and I'll also talk about other technologies and the other revolution that happens due to our IVF abilities, mainly the genetic revolution and the pre-gestational testing and the surrogacy and uterine transplantation. In the end, I will mention some of the embryonic stem cells, nuclear transfer and cellular therapy being applied in the infertility clinic these days.
1:27
41 years ago, this short letter in the Lancet Journal was the peak of years of research in reproduction. The scientific paper was very short, in the form of a public announcement, without any details about how the IVF was really done. Lesley Brown and her husband John had failed to conceive naturally throughout the nine years of their continuous marriage. Lesley Brown had bilateral tubal blocks. Dr. Robert Edwards and Mr. Patrick Steptoe did a laparoscopic oocyte retrieval during a natural cycle and used the husband's sperm to fertilize their retrieved oocyte in the lab in a dish. A few days later, an 8-cell stage embryo was placed inside Lesley's uterine cavity.