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The female biological clock has been, so far, nearly impossible to beat. But a new fertility treatment called OvaPrime might change all that. In 2004, biologist Jonathan Tilly and his colleagues discovered the existence of egg precursor cells (EggPCs) in the outer cortex of the ovaries of mice. These cells, they later showed, could grow into mature eggs that became fertilized and then healthy baby mice. In 2012, his team found these cells in humans and showed they could be cultivated into mature eggs. In other words, the idea that women are born with all of the eggs they will ever have is wrong.
OvaPrime, which the company OvaScience plans to introduce internationally by the end of the year, will extract a woman’s EggPC cells and then reintroduce them into the central part of the ovary, where they can grow into mature eggs. “We hope this procedure will bring the woman’s biology back in time and will reset the clock in her ovary,” said Dr. Arthur Tzianabos, president and chief science officer for OvaScience. That should help women produce more eggs during an IVF cycle and increase the chance for success.
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Read full, original post: Will This Fertility Treatment Make Egg Freezing Obsolete?
