Two Indian medical researchers have developed a non-invasive marker which they claim to help the infertility experts to pick up the right embryo for In Vitro Fertilization. Professor Satish Adiga of Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University and Dr. Hanudatta Atreya of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore came with this groundbreaking study which is pursued by many medical scientists to bring new revolution in the IVF technology.

At present, the commonly used technique for infertility has a relatively low success rate of around 30 to 40 per cent. The prime reason for this is the process of selecting embryos for implantation in the mother’s womb depends only on morphology which is highly subjective. The two inventors of this non-invasive marker are claiming that their research will ensure a higher rate of success in such fertilization.

“We are experimenting with different molecules which are either released or taken up by the embryos using highly sensitive Nuclear Magnetic Resonance approach and we found that the uptake of pyruvate by the embryo and pyruvate/alanine ratio in the culture medium can serve as a potential biomarker in identifying the best embryos which can undergo implantation,” said Dr Atreya, a senior scientist who heads a research team in NMR Research Centre, Indian Institute of Science.

The Department of Science and Technology, Government of India is supporting this study so that the IVF technology in India can experience a revolutionary change. Dr Guruprasad Kalthur (KMC), Shivananda Pudakalakatti (IISc), Shubhashree Uppangala (KMC) and Fiona D’Souza (KMC) are also involved in this study.