The Human Assisted Reproduction Unit of the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, has achieved a pregnancy rate of 35 per cent since it began in 1989, according to figures presented at the IMO conference yesterday.
Prof Robert Harrison, head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Royal College of Surgeon in Ireland and director of the unit, was speaking at a scientific seminar, "Advances in Genetics - Cui Bono?".
Addressing the genetic implications of human assisted reproduction, Prof Harrison said modern techniques were not without hazard.
The process of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) which has transformed the fertility potential of sub-fertile males carried a slightly higher risk of genetic defect.
The process involved the injection of sperm into the egg, and because they were selected as part of a medical procedure, the normal process of natural sperm selection did not take place, he said.
Another genetic concern was related to the older age of patients who presented for infertility treatment. Prof Harrison emphasised that the key to preventing problems was to pick up a potential genetic defect in advance. The availability of more comprehensive methods of gene-testing was very helpful in avoiding genetic problems, he told doctors.
The Rotunda unit had not experienced any significant increase in genetic abnormalities in babies born as a result of assisted reproduction techniques, he said.
Dr William Reardon, consultant clinical geneticist at the National Centre for Medical Genetics, at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, outlined how genetic analysis could benefit patients and their families.
Using a typical case history, he demonstrated how it would be possible in the future to estimate a patient's lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer by means of a simple blood test.
The availability of this information would necessitate counselling and screening programmes for patients. "Indeed, in genetics we do not have patients, we have families," Dr Reardon said, referring to the implications of genetic testing for those related to the patient.