Scientists in Australia and Greece seem to draw near to identifying genes that determine which test-tube embryos are the best for implanting in the womb and growing into healthy babies, Reuters informs.

There hasn’t been yet found a way of telling which embryos are likely to become successful pregnancies and which have chances to fail. Therefore, couples often choose to have more than one embryo implanted to increase chances of pregnancy. But this can’t be seen as a valid option, since it can result in multiple pregnancies that can endanger both mothers’ and babies’ health.

This recent study could end the need to embed more than one embryo into a woman's womb to increase the chances of success. If one healthy embryo could be somehow selected, the risk of eventual multiple pregnancies would be dwindled.

There were 48 women involved in the research. All of them were under the IVF treatment. Five days after fertilisation the embryos reached the blastocyst stage. The researchers then took “DNA fingerprints” by removing between eight and 20 cells from a cell layer known as the trophectoderm.

Twenty-five of the forty-eight women became pregnant and thirty-seven babies were born.

After the babies were born, their DNA was matched with the DNA from the cells, thus revealing which blastocysts developed into babies.

These results are revolutionary and relieving. On their basis, doctors would have two days to get the results of the genetic analysis, and to implant the embryo into the womb while still fresh. They wouldn’t need to freeze it, which would mean avoiding damages on the embryo.