Microsurgical Fertilization and Blastomere Removal for Genetic Analysis

Timothy W. Schimmel, and Kathleen F. Crumm

N Engl J Med 1994; 331:1200November 3, 1994

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Figure 1 Microsurgical Fertilization and Blastomere Removal for Genetic Analysis.

The oocyte and embryo are each immobilized at the tip of a holding pipette by the application of a gentle vacuum to the surrounding zona pellucida (zp). Intracytoplasmic injection (Panel A) involves perforation of the zona pellucida and oocyte plasma membrane with a glass micropipette (8 micrometers in diameter). A single sperm (arrow) is visible at the tip of the micropipette before its expulsion into the oocyte cytoplasm, and a polar body (pb) extruded into the perivitelline space during the final maturation of the oocyte is evident. Forty-five hours after insemination in vitro, the zona pellucida is perforated and a single blastomere (bl) is removed from an eight-cell embryo for genetic analysis (Panel B). The micrographs were prepared with Nomarski interference optics (x180). Each scale bar represents 100 micrometers.

Kim Eagle, M.D.

Timothy W. Schimmel
Kathleen F. Crumm
IVF America Program at United Hospital, Port Chester, NY 10573

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