Embryo Project Encyclopedia Articles

Ooplasmic transfer, also called cytoplasmic transfer, is an outside the body, in vitro fertilization (IVF) technique. Ooplasmic transfer in humans (Homo sapiens) is similar to in vitro fertilization (IVF), with a few additions. IVF is the process in which doctors manually combine an egg and sperm cells in a laboratory dish, as opposed to artificial insemination, which takes place in the female's body. For ooplasmic transfer, doctors withdraw cytoplasm from a donor's oocyte, and then they inject that cytoplasm with sperm into a patient's oocyte. Doctors perform ooplasmic transfer to replace mitochondria that have genetic defects, which can cause a variety of diseases. In 1982, Audrey Muggleton-Harris's group at MRC Laboratory Animals Center in Surrey, United Kingdom, developed the technique and reported the first successful mammalian ooplasmic transfer in mice (Mus musculus).