Girl born a record 22 years after father's sperm is frozen

A former leukaemia patient who had his sperm frozen as a teenager has fathered a baby after doctors successfully thawed his sample a record 22 years later.

Chris Biblis was 16 when doctors told him that he needed radiotherapy that would leave him sterile and recommended before going ahead with the life-saving treatment that they put a sample of his sperm into cryogenic storage for future use.

Now aged 38, he is celebrating the birth of a healthy baby daughter, Stella, who was conceived after scientists injected a defrosted sperm into an egg from his wife, Melodie, and implanted it in her uterus.

The 22-year lapse between storage in April 1986 and conception in June 2008 is a world record, according to specialists at the US fertility clinic who carried out the procedure.

The 5lb 12oz girl was born to Mrs Lesley Brown, 29, by ceasarean section just before midnight

“From my life being saved to being able to create a life, words just can’t describe where we are now,” said Mr Biblis, of Charlotte, North Carolina, who has been free of leukaemia since the age of 18.

“I’ve got this bundle of joy to appreciate. It’s truly a miracle,” he told ABC News.

The case is being hailed as an illustration of how far infertility treatment has advanced in the past two decades and proof that sperm can remain viable for decades if they are preserved in liquid nitrogen. The previous record was 21 years.

The procedure used to create Stella did not even exist when Mr Biblis gave the sample in 1986 during his six-year struggle against leukaemia.

“I was trying to get through high school and, you know, living one day at a time just hoping I was going to make it,” he said.

It was not until 1992 that the method of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) – by which scientists carefully select a healthy sperm cell and insert it into an egg in the laboratory – was successfully pioneered.

The technique carries an increased chance of conception beyond conventional IVF procedures, in which sperm and eggs are mixed in the laboratory to fertilise spontaneously, and was used because only 35 per cent of Mr Biblis’s sperm cells were deemed viable after thawing.

Doctors selected the best of the remaining cells and injected them into ten eggs harvested from Mrs Biblis, of which seven fertilised successfully in the laboratory. Two of the embryos were implanted, though only one survived, and five remain in storage, allowing the couple the option of having more children.

“They achieved pregnancy on their first cycle of ICSI . . . We had every reason to expect a perfect baby but are thrilled nonetheless,” said Richard Wing, a fertility specialist and founder of Reproductive Endocrinology Associates of Charlotte: “I had no concern about working with old sperm – bovine and equine sperm has been frozen for long periods and has resulted in successful gestations.”

First Case of Adult Male Swine Flu

'Nursemaid' cells reveal the best IVF eggs

Genetic clues contained in the cells that nurse and nurture developing eggs could help identify which ones to choose for IVF.

There is currently little that can be done to predict which eggs are most likely to generate healthy embryos. After an egg has been fertilized, doctors can take biopsies from early embryos or examine their shape to predict which are most likely to implant and produce healthy children. Despite this, around 8 out of 10 embryos conceived through IVF fail to implant when transferred to the womb.

While an egg is developing it is nurtured by specialized cells called cumulus cells, which provide it with the nutrients it needs to grow. "The final state of the egg depends on the relationship with the cumulus cells," says Samir Hamamah at the Montpellier University Hospital in France. So he and his colleagues wondered whether there are genetic markers in these cells that could predict the quality of the resulting embryos and the likelihood of a successful pregnancy.

To investigate further, the team retrieved eggs and their associated cumulus cells from 30 women undergoing IVF. After extracting and freezing the cumulus cells, they fertilized the eggs by intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and inspected the resulting embryos for quality. They then looked at the gene expression profiles of the cumulus cells corresponding to the eggs that produced good and bad embryos, as well as those that failed to fertilize.


This analysis showed that the levels of expression of three genes, called BCL2L11, PCK1 and NFIB, were strongly associated with embryo quality (Molecular Human Reproduction, DOI: 10.1093/molehr/gan067). BCL2L11 is involved in triggering cell death in response to abnormalities, PCK1 is associated with energy production, and NFIB regulates some of the earliest processes in embryo development.

Hamamah's finding opens up the possibility that doctors might be able to check the level of expression of these cumulus cell genes to predict the viability of the egg. "This is a novel concept, offering a new potential strategy for competent embryo selection," he told a meeting of the Preimplantation Genetics Diagnosis International Society in Miami, Florida, last week.Fertility doctors might be able to check the level of gene expression to predict the viability of an egg

He plans to confirm that this strategy works by using the three genetic markers to select eggs to fertilize and implant, and then see how many of these result in healthy pregnancies compared with those from unscreened eggs.

"Trying to establish the importance of particular gene products in assessing embryo viability is very important," says Simon Fishel, managing director of the Care fertility clinic in Sheffield, UK. "Whether it will become a valuable clinical [tool] remains to be seen. Our understanding of genes in relation to embryo viability is still crude."

USB ultrasound device coming to a Windows Mobile phone near you?

Two computer science professors at Washington University in St. Louis have produced a USB ultrasound probe which is compatible with Windows Mobile smartphones. The project, funded by Microsoft, has developed and optimized probe that uses less power, and is enhanced for data transfer rates on cellphones. The devices could be especially useful in on-the-go situations -- for ambulances, emergencies, and for use by traveling medical staff. The makers also foresee that the device could positively effect medical practice in the developing world, where equipment and doctors can be scarce, and a small, but cellphone access is ever increasingly prevalent. We don't know when these might be commercially available, but they are hoping to sell them for around $500 -- significantly cheaper than many portable ultrasounds, which can cost almost $30,000.

An Honest Effort

The "Cuckoo" Blonde

A contestant on 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire? ' had reached the
final plateau. If she answered the next question correctly, she would
win $1,000,000. If she answered incorrectly, she would pocket only the
$25,000 milestone money. And as she suspected, the million-dollar
question was no pushover.

The question from Meredith (the Host) was, 'Which of the following
species of birds does not build its own nest but instead lays its eggs
in the nests of other birds?
Is it:
A) the condor
B) the buzzard
C) the cuckoo
D) the vulture

The contestant was on the spot. She did not know the answer. She had
used up her 50/50 Lifeline and her Ask the Audience Lifeline.. All
that remained was her Phone-a-Friend Lifeline. She hoped she would not
have to use it because .. her friend (Jeni) was, well, blonde. But she
had no alternative.

She called her friend and gave her the question and the four choices.
The blonde responded without hesitation: 'That's easy. The answer is
C: the cuckoo.'

The contestant had to make a decision and make it fast. She considered
using a reverse strategy and giving Meredith any answer except the one
that her friend had given her. And considering her friend was a blonde
that would seem to be the logical thing to do. But her friend had
responded with such confidence, such certainty, that the contestant
could not help but be convinced.

'I need an answer,' said Meredith.

Crossing her fingers, the contestant said, 'C: The cuckoo.'

'Is that your final answer?'

'Yes, that is my final answer.'

And Meredith replied, 'That answer is.... Absolutely correct! You are
now a millionaire! '

Three days later, the contestant hosted a party for her family and
friends, including the blonde who had helped her win the million
dollars.

'Jeni, I just do not know how to thank you,' said the contestant.
'How did you happen to know the right answer?'

'Oh, come on,' said the blonde... 'Everybody knows that cuckoos don't
build nests... They live in clocks.'

The contestant fainted on the spot.

The 2400 meter shot

The guy who took the 2400m shot is now a Calgary cop. If you are faint of heart do not view it? Canadian Snipers wiping out Taliban Snipers in Afghanistan . These video shots are not made through the shooter's telescopic sight. They are made looking through the spotter's scope. The spotter lies right next to the sniper and helps the
sniper to find and home in on the target. The sniper is using a 50 caliber rifle. A 50 cal. round is about 7-8 inches long and the casing is about an inch in diameter. The bullet itself is one-half inch in diameter and roughly one and one-half inches long. Pay close attention to the beginning of the video. A Taliban is lying on top of the peak in front of you... when you hear the shot fired....watch what happens. The sniper is also about a half mile away... or more. A Canadian sniper in Afghanistan
has been confirmed as hitting an enemy soldier at a range of 2,310 meters (7565 ft/1.43 miles), the longest recorded and confirmed sniper shot in history. The previous record of 2,250 meters (7369 ft/1.4 miles) was set by US Marine sniper Carlos Hathcock in Vietnam in 1967. The Canadian sniper was at an altitude of 8,500 feet and the target, across a valley, was at 9,000 feet. Canadian sniper units often operated in support of US infantry units, which were grateful for their help. The record lasted only one day, until a second Canadian sniper hit an enemy soldier at 2,400 meters (7860 feet/1.48 miles). The Canadian snipers fire special 50-caliber McMillan tactical rifles, which are bolt-action weapons with five-round magazines. The Canadian snipers were the only Canadian troops operating without helmets or flak jackets as they had too much other equipment to carry. Each three-man team has one sniper rifle, three standard rifles Canadian (C7s), one of them with a 203mm grenade launcher.