Can IVF technology cure thalassemia?
As an assisted reproductive technology, IVF is a widely used method that combines sperm and egg artificially, then cultivates them into embryos in the laboratory, and finally implants them into the mother. Whether IVF technology can cure the disease of thalassemia has always been a matter of great concern for the patients with thalassemia. This article will elaborate from the genetic perspective, embryo selection, transfer success rate and practical cases.
Genetic perspective
The thalassemia is a hereditary disease, and the red blood cells in the patient's body cannot normally synthesize hemoglobin. Before embryo implantation, IVF technology can conduct genetic screening and gene testing of embryos. If one person in a couple carries the thalassemia gene, the embryo without the thalassemia gene can be screened for transfer through the IVF technology. In this way, can we avoid the disease of land poverty being passed on to the next generation, so as to achieve the curative effect.
However, although IVF technology can screen embryos for genes, it cannot completely guarantee that future generations will not suffer from ground poverty. Because thalassemia is caused by multiple gene mutations, and there may be different types of thalassemia genes. Therefore, even if embryos without specific thalassemia genes are screened, the existence of other thalassemia genes cannot be excluded. Therefore, from the genetic point of view, IVF technology cannot completely cure poverty.
Embryonic selection
In IVF technology, the selection of high-quality embryos is crucial to the success of transplantation. Before transplantation, patients with thalassemia need to go through the process of taking eggs, fertilization and embryo culture for many times to select healthy embryos suitable for transplantation. During this process, doctors will evaluate the embryo according to its morphology, cell division speed and other criteria, and select the most likely to develop into normal embryos for transplantation.
However, due to the different pathological mechanisms in the body of patients with thalassemia, their reproductive capacity may be affected, making it difficult to obtain high-quality embryos. Therefore, in the process of embryo selection, patients with thalassemia may face a lower success rate. This will also directly affect the effect of IVF technology in curing thalassemia.
Transplantation success rate
It is very important for IVF technology to improve the success rate of embryo transfer. At present, there are many experienced hospitals and expert teams around the world to carry out IVF technology, such as Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Harvard Medical College, etc. These hospitals have achieved certain success by improving technical means and operating skills.
However, the success rate of transplantation for patients with thalassemia is still limited to a certain extent. Because of the complexity of the symptoms of thalassemia, including the patient's physical condition, immune response and other factors, embryos may encounter more difficulties in the process of transfer. Therefore, even if IVF technology can successfully screen embryos without thalassemia gene, the probability of successfully implanting embryos into the mother is also a problem that needs further research and improvement.
Actual case
Although the success rate of IVF in curing thalassemia is limited, there are still some successful examples in actual cases. It is reported that some poor people have successfully given birth to healthy children through IVF technology, avoiding the inheritance of the disease. However, these cases belong to individual cases and cannot represent the situation of all the poor people.
To sum up, IVF technology cannot completely cure poverty. Although it is possible to select embryos without thalassemia genes through genetic screening for transplantation, it cannot be guaranteed to completely avoid the occurrence of thalassemia. Embryo selection and the success rate of transplantation will also have a certain impact on the curative effect. However, some actual cases show that IVF technology is still a promising direction for the treatment of thalassemia, and future research and improvement may improve the curative effect.
