Barcodes could be used to mark eggs, sperm and embryos in an effort to prevent mistakes in IVF treatments like the error at a Yorkshire hospital which led to mixed-race twins being born to a white couple.
Safeguards in the IVF process were ordered last year after a mistake at Leeds General Infirmary when sperm sample labels were misread.
Similar accidents have occurred in the US and Holland.
According to New Scientist magazine, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is considering labelling all embryos, eggs and sperm with barcodes or electronic ID tags.
The move comes after IVF scientists developed a system where an alarm would sound if the wrong egg and sperm were placed too close to each other.
Source
Safeguards in the IVF process were ordered last year after a mistake at Leeds General Infirmary when sperm sample labels were misread.
Similar accidents have occurred in the US and Holland.
According to New Scientist magazine, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is considering labelling all embryos, eggs and sperm with barcodes or electronic ID tags.
The move comes after IVF scientists developed a system where an alarm would sound if the wrong egg and sperm were placed too close to each other.
Source