Question about IVF - is this true?

[Disco]

I need some help with a quote someone posted for me in another forum. He didn't give me a link to this quote, but I found some instances of it through google. here's the quote, with link:

"During in vitro fertilization the human embryo is given an electrical jolt to spark-off cell division. The purpose of this routine electrical intervention is not known. All is known is that cell division is unlikely to occur in the absence of this electrical intervention."

http://www.tulasicorp.com/articles/

I had never heard of this before, nor is it listed as a step in IVF on the more common sites that describe the procedure.

Is this really true? has anyone had IVF where this was described to them?

[bellonax]

Bump, cos I wanna know now, too.

[Professor Yaffle]

It rings a bell for being used in cloning, but I haven't heard of it with IVF.

ETA a google search on IVF electric jolt only brings up references to it being used to jumpstart development in cloning.

[Disco]

That's about all I could find, too. I talked to a woman who has 2 children through IVF, and she also pointed out that it's used in cloning, not IVF.

Thanks for the bump, & the info. It's been a while since I could visit here, but I knew someone here could help me out. I sure missed you guys!

:D

[sanguine]

A bit of PubMed-based followup:

It looks like there was one study in 1988 that attempted to use a electricity to activate the acrosome in sperm (the acrosome is the forward section of the sperm head that contains enzymes that eat through the egg wall, allowing fertilization). This doesn't appear to have been adopted as a general technique and, of course, has nothing to do with getting the fertilized embryo to start dividing.

That's Tomkins and Houghton 1988, PubMed ID 3396703.

Also, over in petri-plate territory, electricity can be used to induce cell division in unfertilized oocytes, although this won't lead to a full, working organism.

There is no need for electricity to motivate cell division in the embryo -- that's what the sperm and egg have evolved to do all on their own.

I suspect, however, the imagery of "jump starting" life makes this seem plausible to a casual reader (although I'm just imagining Dr. Frankenstein with a pair of Van de Graaff generators flanking a petri plate, cackling "It's alive!" as he reanimates a defunct oocyte).

[ponderingturtle]

I believe that was used in Dolly in a large part because she was cloned from a mamary cell, and so they needed to reset the neucleous after transfer to not be a mamary cell.

[skeptigirl]

I need some help with a quote someone posted for me in another forum. He didn't give me a link to this quote, but I found some instances of it through google. here's the quote, with link:

"During in vitro fertilization the human embryo is given an electrical jolt to spark-off cell division. The purpose of this routine electrical intervention is not known. All is known is that cell division is unlikely to occur in the absence of this electrical intervention."

http://www.tulasicorp.com/articles/

I had never heard of this before, nor is it listed as a step in IVF on the more common sites that describe the procedure.

Is this really true? has anyone had IVF where this was described to them?I see no sources for the stuff in that blog disguised as a "tutorial". This stuff is quite out there:Subtle Bioplasma Bodies in the Metaphysical Literature

The Subtle Body is a Bioplasma Body

The subtle bodies described in the metaphysical literature (particularly the yoga and New Age literature) have signature features associated with plasma. These include:

• Networks of filamentary currents (known as “nadis” or “meridians” in the metaphysical literature).

• Helical currents, aligned with the spine, which resemble helical pinches and “snakes” often found in plasma.

• Plasma vortexes (know as “chakras” in the metaphysical literature) caused by the helical movement of particles entering the bioplasma body.

• Jets or beams of collimated light that issue out from these vortexes which evidence a plasma discharge (similar to what issues out of a plasma gun).

• A magnetized plasma ovoid which surrounds and shields subtle bodies from the environment (just as the Earth is protected by the magnetosphere - a sphere composed of collisionless magnetized plasma).

And so on.

I suggest you ignore that source and start from scratch. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_fertilization) Nothing about electrical currents here.

[Disco]

Thanks again everyone.

skeptigirl, I hear you. The loon who gave me that quote in my OP didn't give a reference link, so that's just what I was able to find through google. Believe me, I went to more regular sources about IVF to find out more about this guy's claim. It just didn't make sense to me. I gave up once I started to see stuff about orbs & the other nonsense that particular blog was advocating.

What's funny is this guy also brought out the Frankenstein reference, just like sanguine here. His claim that all IVF required this "electrical jumpstart" (and scientists didn't know why, so it must be GOD!) didn't sound right to me, and I knew someone here would be able to sort it out for me.

[sanguine]

What's funny is this guy also brought out the Frankenstein reference, just like sanguine here. His claim that all IVF required this "electrical jumpstart" (and scientists didn't know why, so it must be GOD!) didn't sound right to me, and I knew someone here would be able to sort it out for me.

I'll add that those times in my biology research where I do end up using electricity, I always know why. :) I have, from time to time, done "electroporation," in which electricity is passed through E. coli cells to disrupt their cell membranes, letting in some outside DNA that you are trying to get the organism to incorporate. It's very straightforward -- apply charge, disrupt membrane to make holes, let in DNA -- except the one time in eight or so where the electricity arcs and kills all your cells. Then you sigh, go get a new tube of cells, and try again.

Sadly, still no microscale generators, nor lightning channeled from the sky.

[Disco]

When they jump out of the petri dish carrying little pitchforks, sanguine, you'd better run!