Monash University researchers have used DNA profiling to distinguish nonviable and viable embryos used for in-vitro fertilization (IVF).

They took cells from 5-day-old embryos before the embryos were implanted in 48 women. The researchers matched the original embryo DNA with their babies– each embryo was classified as successful or not–and checked for differences in patterns of gene expression between the two types of embryos.

They found 7317 sets of genetic instructions that were expressed by the viable embryos, but not by the others.

The team will reduce these to five or ten “marker” genes that can be used to accurately predict that a transferred embryo will become a baby. Currently, doctors decide which embryos to transfer to the uterus based only on the way the embryo looks. This method has a 30% success rate, and often multiple embryos are transferred to increase the odds of a successful pregnancy. However, this can result in twins (or more), which has health risks for both them and the mother.