A Sino-US medical center specializing in genetics and infertility is actively preparing for the introduction of third generation technology, which will allow infertile couples not only to have babies, but also to ensure that their children are free from hereditary diseases.

"The technology - prenatal genetics diagnosis (PGD) - means that doctors can inspect for genetic diseases before planting test-tube developed embryos into women's wombs," said Ren Deling, professor of genetic diseases at the Shanghai Ji'ai Genetics and IVF Institute China-US Center.

"The inspections will help prevent the planting of unhealthy embryos and prevent babies with genetic diseases being born," Ren said.

Shanghai Ji'ai has so far employed two generations of technology - non-surgical sperm aspiration (NSA) and intro cytoplasma sperm injection (ICSI) technology - to help couples with different kinds of infertility problems.

Since its establishment in September 1998, more than 1,100 mothers have got pregnant after operation.

The number of test-tube babies successfully carried to term has reached 466. But the center said some babies were born outside Shanghai and thus not registered by the center.

"Our success rates with the two technologies, 40 percent with NSA and 36 percent with ICSI, are even higher than those of US counterparts," Zhao Weipeng, director of the Shanghai center, said in a ceremony marking the 1,000th successful test-tube baby inseminations yesterday in Shanghai.

(China Daily 05/05/2001)