‘Stem cell research may be boon to fertility clinics’

The San Francisco Chronicle reports how the controversial fetal stem cell research might change IVF outcomes:

Now, scientists say the burgeoning interest in stem cell research is producing insights already circling back into IVF practice.
Fertility specialists hope the stem cell work will lead to better methods of handling embryos and perhaps provide a clearer understanding of human development at this very early stage. Ultimately, this could translate into improved IVF success rates.
“If we can find the best way to grow embryos to get stem cells, and understand the best techniques to nurture them, then we can do studies to see if it might make a difference in our standard culture lines for things we are indeed going to place into patients,” said Dr. David Smotrich, medical director and founder of La Jolla IVF.
Human embryonic stem cells are usually derived when the embryo is about 4 or 5 days old, having formed what is known as the “inner cell mass,” a clump of stem cells whose further growth and differentiation leads to a fully formed embryo and, if implanted in the womb, a growing fetus.

Full article at the San Francisco Chronicle…