By Jennifer Lyng
Special to Inside
Situated among the bars, condominiums and stores in Lincoln Park, an old, yellow-brick building houses the world-renowned Reproductive Genetics Institute (RGI). Located at 2825 N. Halsted St., RGI is a state-of-the-art facility offering pre- and post-pregnancy diagnostic genetic testing and infertility treatment. The Institute is headquartered in Chicago, with satellite offices in several other countries, including England, Russia and Cyprus. RGI also works with over 100 other centers around the country and the world, sharing data and diagnoses, making this a truly global effort to decrease the incidence of genetic disorders.
Yury Verlinsky, Ph.D., director and one of the founders of RGI, says that the services offered by the Institute range from diagnosing genetic and chromosomal diseases to helping infertile couples have healthy children. They work with more than 100 genetic disorders, such as cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease, chromosomal disorders such as Downs Syndrome, and cancer, Alzheimer's and kidney disease.
RGI developed and still leads in research in the field of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). "Performing genetic diagnoses prior to fertilization or implantation helps prevent the initiation of abnormal pregnancies and eliminates the need for a decision of whether to end a pregnancy due to the health of the fetus," said Verlinsky.
More than 1,000 PGD procedures were done by RGI last year. The statistics speak for themselves. Without PGD, those with a high risk of producing offspring with genetic disorders have a 14 percent chance of having a healthy baby. Those odds go up to 70 percent with PGD.
Many miscarriages are caused by the fetus having genetic diseases or chromosomal abnormalities. There is an 80 percent chance of miscarriage for high risk individuals without PGD. This risk falls to 20 percent once PGD is performed. Since many women attempting In Vitro Fertilization are over 35 years old, when the chance of chromosomal abnormalities increase, PGD has greatly improved the odds of having a healthy baby for many women.
Another way that PGD is being used is to help families who already have a sick child. At RGI, PGD has successfully aided in the selection of an embryo which will result in a brother or sister who is more likely to be a donor match for the sick sibling. For example, a young leukemia victim might finally get to have a life-saving bone marrow transplant.
PGD is just part of RGI's In Vitro Fertilization program. The overall success rate for the IVF program is over 50 percent each cycle, or attempt. "RGI's 'take home baby rate' is 80 percent per patient, after multiple cycles," said Verlinsky. These are some of the top rates in the world.
In addition to helping those genetically at-risk to have healthy children, RGI also offers to store core blood taken from the placenta at the time of birth. Verlinsky explains that "this core blood serves as future security if the child ever develops health problems in his or her lifetime." The stem cells found in this core blood are a form of life insurance.
For more information on the services provided by RGI, visit their Web site at reproductivegenetics.com. |
