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A new test to screen embryos will help to identify genetically determined conditions in IVF babies.

Couples who are most at risk of serious genetic diseases who are undergoing in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) will be able to be screened.

It will allow the number of diseases which embryos can be tested for to be extended dramatically.

The test will detect a number of conditions including muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis.

Scientists will announce the technique today at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Prague.

The technique is called pre-implantation genetic haplotyping (PGH) and has been pioneered by scientists at Guy's Hospital in London.

Peter Braude, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at King's College London said that it was a significant development.

Currently pre-implementation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is available to treat a relatively small number of conditions, including Huntingdon's Disease.

It is hoped that the technique can be extended to test for conditions including Fragile X Syndrome, Myotonic Dystrophy and Prader-Willi Syndrome.

A representative from Comment on Reproductive Ethics warned against further extensions of screening.

PGD involves taking a single cell from an IVF embryo and testing the amount of Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) it contains for the presence of a known mutation for genetic disorders like cystic fibrosis.

With PGH, a single cell is taken from the embryo and its entire genetic complement multiplied many times before testing it for a defective gene.

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