IVF clinics may RFID-tag embryos

The UK body which regulates IVF treatment is considering tagging embryos to prevent the sort of fiasco which saw mixed-race twins born to white parents after the wrong sperm was used to fertilise the mother's eggs, reports The Register.

"The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) now wants to label all material - sperm, eggs and embryos - with barcodes or RFID tags, New Scientist reports.

The plan is intended to eliminate the possibility of mix-ups which are still possible even under the "double-witnessing" protocol which "requires an embryologist to ask a colleague to witness and document every procedure in which an error could occur"."

emily | 8:49 AM | Barcode Technologies / RFID Tags / NFC |
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