LONDON, January 16, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Scientists now say that not only clones, but IVF babies as well, are more likely to suffer from a rare gene disorder, Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, than babies conceived naturally.
Beckwith-Wiedemann is a rare condition that causes overgrowth of tissues, kidney abnormalities and tumours, and results from errors during the initial “imprinting” process—normally when DNA from the mother and father combine at conception. Scientists believe that fertility techniques such as IVF and ICSI—in which a single sperm is injected into an egg—may actually disrupting the imprinting process. Researchers from the Universities of Birmingham and Cambridge examined 149 babies diagnosed with Beckwith-Wiedemann. They found that six out of the 149 had been conceived via IVF or ICSI, or 4%. But the proportion of babies born using IVF in Britain is only 1%, meaning that IVF babies are more likely to fall prey to the disorder than those conceived naturally. For BBC coverage see: https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2662079.stm