Genetic testing of embryos

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and aneuploidy test (PGT-A) enable the analysis of embryos before embryo transfer.

PGD detects genetic mutations that can cause hereditary diseases, while PGT-A checks the number of chromosomes to rule out abnormalities.

The biopsy is performed at the blastocyst stage, and only healthy embryos are used for embryo transfer to increase the chance of a healthy pregnancy.

PGD genetic testing of embryos

The PGD method stands for pre-implantation genetic diagnosis when a biopsy of the embryo is taken to analyze it for a specific gene responsible for an inherited disease (for instance muscular dystrophy, breast cancer). Today, the biopsy is most often taken at the blastocyst stage.

The biopsied embryos are frozen, and upon receiving the results, the transfer of healthy embryos that do not have a mutation of the analyzed gene is performed, thus ruling out the risk of inheriting the disease.

PGT-A test

Pre-implantation genetic test for aneuploidy (PGT-A) is a method where a biopsy of an embryo is taken at the blastocyst stage and the resulting sample is analyzed for all 46 chromosomes in order to rule out excess or under numbered chromosomes, thereby increasing the chance of pregnancy and childbirth. After taking the biopsy, the embryos are frozen. After receiving the results, only embryos with 46 chromosomes, the so-called euploid embryos, are used. This method is not applicable to all couples.

PGT-A can also be performed from blastocyst fluid or embryo culture media, but this method is considered experimental.