Carrying out an extra test could increase the success of IVF treatment by 65 per cent, a recent study has found.

A UK biotech company have found that having a test which checks if an embryo contains the right amount of genetic information could dramatically improve the effectiveness of IVF, with figures revealing that this could increase pregnancy rates by 65 per cent.

IVF is notoriously varied in terms of success rate, with only around a third of women under 35 becoming pregnant from an IVF cycle. That figure drops to one in five by a woman's late 30s and about one in 20 by her mid-40s.

The treatment only works if there are a balanced number of chromosomes from both the mother and the father. If mistakes are made and the embryo is imbalanced, then it means that in most cases it won’t develop.

This is what the new treatment is looking to mend. The screening method developed by Blue Gnome takes a few cells from the embryo when it is five days old. These are analysed to count the chromosomes, with only those with the correct number being implanted.

The researchers tested the effectiveness of current screening methods with using chromosome counting alongside standard tests, finding that 20 weeks after the embryo was implanted, 69 per cent of women who had additional screening were pregnant. This compared to only 42 per cent of the control group where the procedure was not used.
Blue Gnome chief executive Nick Haan said the test "can offer a dramatic benefit" to IVF success rates.

"While further studies are still needed, this result is incredibly exciting because it indicates for the first time that 24-chromosome screening and single-embryo transfer has the potential to become the default standard of care for all IVF cycles worldwide."