The “Zinc” Spark of Life
Life, like the universe, begins with light. While this may sound more poetic
than scientific, a new study has found that a burst of light is visible
when a sperm fertilizes an egg. Even more, when that burst of light is
significantly larger than other surrounding fertilized eggs, the healthier
the newly created embryo. It’s a fascinating discovery, and one
that is specifically significant to the field of IVF and reproductive
medicine. If doctors can now determine the healthiest embryos according
to how much light they produce when formed, they can choose the most viable
embryos for transfer in IVF procedures. This increases IVF success by
50%. The study was published in Scientific Reports and the study’s
authors explain that the light is created by high levels of zinc. As Teresa
Woodruff, an expert in ovarian biology explains, “If you can look
at the zinc spark at the time of fertilization, you will know immediately
which eggs are the good ones to transfer in IVF.”
You can watch an explanatory video here:
https://www.facebook.com/ScienceNaturePage/videos/1247764342022488/