Genome constraint through sexual reproduction: application of 4D-Genomics in reproductive biology.

Genome constraint through sexual reproduction: application of 4D-Genomics in reproductive biology. Syst Biol Reprod Med. 2013 Jan 8; Authors: Horne SD, Abdallah BY, Stevens JB, Liu G, Ye KJ, Bremer SW, Heng HH Abstract Assisted reproductive technologies have been used to achieve pregnancies since the first successful test tube baby was born in 1978. Infertile couples are at an increased risk for multiple miscarriages and the application of current protocols are associated with high first-trimester miscarriage rates. Among the contributing factors of these higher rates is a high incidence of fetal aneuploidy. Numerous studies support that protocols including ovulation-induction, sperm cryostorage, density-gradient centrifugation, and embryo culture can induce genome instability, but the general mechanism is less clear. Application of the genome theory and 4D-Genomics recently led to the establishment of a new paradigm for sexual reproduction; sex primarily constrains genome integrity that defines the biological system rather than just providing genetic diversity at the gene level. We therefore propose that application of assisted reproductive technologies can bypass this sexual reproduction filter as well as potentially induce additional system instability. We have previously demonstrated that a single-cell resolution genomic approach, such as spectral karyotyping to trace stochastic genome level alterations, is effective for pre- and post-nata...
Source: Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine - Category: Reproduction Medicine Authors: Tags: Syst Biol Reprod Med Source Type: research