Scientists in Australia and Belgium have developed an enhanced method of in-vitro maturation (IVM) that may provide a more affordable and less painless option than IVF to the thousands of couples seeking fertility treatment in the near future.

Researchers at University of New South Wales, University of Adelaide and Free University of Brussels said on Wednesday that they had developed a new growth factor called cumulin, which allows eggs to be retrieved earlier than in IVF, and matured outside the womb.

At present, the in-vitro fertilization (IVF) is a more common fertility treatment, in which women are given hormones to stimulate egg growth before they are removed from the ovaries and fertilized elsewhere.

UNSW Associate Professor Robert Gilchrist who led the project said new approach might help eliminate drugs from infertility treatment altogether.

"The aim of our research has been to restore, as far as possible, the natural processes that occur during egg maturation,"he said in a statement on Wednesday.

"We have demonstrated that it is possible to improve egg quality and embryo yield with next to no drugs, using potent growth factors produced by the egg."

The innovative technique, which is awaiting U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, has been 15 years in the making.

The research, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, showed a doubling of embryos when performed on pig eggs.

Pre-clinical trials on human eggs resulted in a 50 percent boost in the number of embryos compared to regular IVM, with minimal use of drugs.

"We initially did the experiments using pig eggs. And there we got an improvement in egg quality and a doubling in embryo yield," Gilchrist said.

"We could have a promising technology in the very near future."

Source : XINHUA