Miscarriage, the most common type of pregnancy loss, can be a horrible and hugely depressing experience for any woman. But, ever wondered why do women have more miscarriages than females of other species? It’s all in the chromosomes, a new study says.
Researchers in Belgium have found that it’s normal for human embryos to contain cells with the wrong number of chromosomes, which can actually cause them to self-destruct. As women age, their eggs are more likely to have the wrong number of chromosomes, which can lead to miscarriages.
For their study, the researchers examined 23 embryos from nine young, fertile couples who were undergoing IVF for screening purposes and found 21 had chromosomal abnormalities, the New Scientist reported. The study, led by Joris Vermeesch from the Centre for Human Genetics in Leuven, has been published in the latest issue of the Nature Medicine journal.
Abnormal chromosome structure in human embryos is quite common. Chromosomal instability is marked by duplications, deletions, or translocations of whole chromosomes, or of chromosome pieces. Top
