New Delhi: Since its introduction, the surrogacy bill has been topic of controversy. In January, 2017, the Rajya Sabha Chairman referred the legislation, as introduced in the Lok Sabha, to the Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare for examination and a report on it. Recently, the said committee submitted its report, which was then presented in the Rajya Sabha. The committee, indeed put forward many progressive suggestions, and pointed out some very valid drawbacks in the proposed bill that need to be corrected for its successful implementation. The committee was seen strongly recommendingthat the Assisted Reproduction Technologies (ART) Bill, 2008 should be brought forth first before bringing in the surrogacy bill as surrogacy procedures cannot be conducted without assisted reproduction techniques and there is urgent need to regulate the ART clinics across the country. Amongst other recommendations, the committee made an observation, pointing out to the obvious flaw in the bill, that deals with the definition of a human embryologist-a specialty doctor necessary in the process of surrogacy and related procedures to avoid any kind of negligent and violators incidents. It was noted that the definition limitedhuman embryologist to one having the said PG degree recognised by the IMC … Continue reading →

Advancing Science University of Illinois researchers have developed a way to produce 3-D images of live embryos in cattle that could help determine embryo viability before in vitro fertilization in humans. Infertility can be devastating for those who want children. Many seek treatment, and the cost of a single IVF cycle can be $20,000, making it desirable to succeed in as few attempts as possible. Advanced knowledge regarding the health ofembryoscould help physicians select those that are most likely to lead to successful pregnancies. The newmethod, published in the journalNature Communications, brought together electrical and computer engineering professor Gabriel Popescu and animal sciences professor Matthew Wheeler in a collaborative project through the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the U. of I. Called gradient light interference microscopy, the method solves a challenge that other methods have struggled withimaging thick, multicellular samples. In many forms of traditional biomedical microscopy, light is shined through very thin slices of tissue to produce an image. Other methods use chemical or physical markers that allow the operator to find the specific object they are looking for within a thicksample, but those markers can be toxic to living tissue, Popescu said. When looking at … Continue reading →