n July 1978 Louise Brown was born, the first “test tube baby” the culmination of a great scientific effort, led by Patrick Steptoe, who died in 1988, a gynecologist, and Robert Edwards, a reproductive physiologist.
From that moment on, Assisted Fertilization Centers have put their efforts into increasing what was known as “the number of children taken home” and several were successful in their objective.
However, some still find it difficult to improve their results.
The causes can be many and varied, such as: the hormonal stimulation regime, the quality and maintenance of the equipment, infertility caused by multiple causes, the experience of the team of professionals, etc. Generally, the cause is not just one but the sum of several, some of which are not always taken into account. Among the latter we must consider the culture medium, the quality of the plastic of the culture plates and the tubes used, since the contact of the gametes and embryos with toxic or simply suboptimal material produces embryotoxic effects in these very sensitive and delicate cells.
It is very important to highlight that in the 2018 version of the ISO 10993-1 Standard, which sets out the new guidelines for the Biological Evaluation of Medical Products, for the first time the PM used for in vitro fertilization procedures or other assisted reproduction techniques are included in this international Standard.
Currently, all Centers require, in order to perform safer and more effective procedures, the certification of the laboratory, the embryologists and the material used in the procedures they perform.
BioAplicada, under the name of Biology of Reproduction, was a pioneering laboratory in our country in this area, thus acquiring extensive experience in the same, since it carried out the Embryotoxicity Test for different PM manufacturers and the most advanced Assisted Fertilization Centers that requested it, even when it was not required by any regulation.
Robert Edwards has achieved recognition for his work in collaboration with the late Patrick Steptoe, with the award of the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine 2010.
Those interested in carrying out Embryotoxicity Tests contact us at info@bioaplicada.com
