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Assisted reproduction and evolutionary biology: a necessary dialogue to mitigate risks to offspring

17 January 2025

Assisted reproduction and evolutionary biology: a necessary dialogue to mitigate risks to offspring

Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) are routinely used to treat human infertility and boost animal production, but they come with recognized epigenetic risks to offspring.

In a new article from the University of Western Australia and the Doñana Biological Station – CSIC researchers call for dialogue between the fields of assisted reproduction and evolutionary biology to improve outcomes of these technologies.

Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) are employed routinely in human clinical practice and animal breeding and collectively describe a range of treatments targeted at addressing infertility (e.g. in humans) and boosting livestock production (in agricultural and aquaculture settings). In a new article published in PNAS Nexus, Jonathan P. Evans from the University of Western Australia and Francisco Garcia-Gonzalez from the Doñana Biological Station – CSIC summarizes the risks of bypassing natural selection when using assisted reproductive technologies and promote the application of evolutionary biology to improve their results.

Techniques used in ART, including in vitro fertilization, artificial insemination, and intracytoplasmic sperm injection, can stress and damage gametes and embryos and lead to deleterious epigenetic changes in offspring. Some ART techniques also bypass a system of filters in the female reproductive tract that select healthy sperm and may lead to better genetic matches with the egg.

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Gráfico técnicas de reproducción asistida

ART-conceived offspring have higher risk of certain health problems than spontaneously conceived offspring, including preterm birth, congenital abnormalities, low birth weight and associated mitochondrial genotypes, childhood cancers, asthma, obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders.

Some of these health risks could potentially be ameliorated by sorting sperm with techniques that mimic the filters in the female reproductive tract and incorporating female reproductive fluids—which play a critical selective role in filtering high quality sperm in vivo—into ART protocols.

According to the authors, applying evolutionary principles to the future development of ART may improve outcomes both for human ART and animal production.


Reference

Jonathan P. Evans, Francisco Garcia-Gonzalez. Applying an evolutionary perspective to assisted reproductive technologies. PNAS Nexus, Volume 3, Issue 12, December 2024, pgae512, https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae512