The Influence of Assisted Reproductive Technology on Genomic Imprinting

Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic phenomenon of the monoallelic expression of genes depending on their parental origin.Studies on animal models show that superovulation and in vitro manipulation and culture of gametes and preimplantation embryos can lead to aysregulation of imprinting.These procedures occur also in assisted reproductive technology(ART)and might result in the same changes of imprinting.At present time,ART remains an imperfect technology with lower embryo implantation rate,higher clinical abortion rate,and slightly elevated congenital disorder rate(such as imprinting diseases),and its relationship with the dysregulation of imprinting need further studies,whose results might be used for the improve clinical outcomes of ART in the future. Key words: Genomic imprinting; Assisted reproductive technology