Preimplantation genetic diagnosis has caught on with fervor in China, Nature News reports.
The number of centers in China that were licensed to do PGD increased from four in 2004 to 40 in 2016, the report indicates. One such center, Peking University Third Hospital, which is run by Qiao Jie, conducted 18,000 IVF procedures in 2016. It also screened embryos for disease-causing genes in 100 cases and for abnormal chromosome counts in 670 cases in 2016, Nature News adds, noting there were 578 such procedures in the UK in 2014.
Nature News attributes this growth in PGD and IVF to a couple of factors. First, China recently altered it policy so that families can now have two children. That means that older women are searching for fertility treatment. Additionally, Nature News notes that the societal view of the procedure is different now — rather than worry about discarding embryos, the emphasis is on having the healthiest child possible.
It notes that China only allows PGD to avoid serious disease or as fertility treatment, and does not permit sex selection.
And the field is growing, the number of procedures is expected to grow by 60 percent to 70 percent per year, Nature News adds.