Bid to boost IVF success

At present in vitro fertilisation (IVF) success rates stand at about 30 per cent and multiple pregnancies are also common.

Now Cambridge University scientists hope that by studying the movement of eggs soon after fertilisation to predict survival chances, they can help take some of the trauma out of the treatment.

Prof Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, from the university, said: “It is important to be able to quantitate some indication of the health of embryos at the earliest possible stage in order to minimise the time they have to spend outside the body of the mother.”