Eleven years of preimplantation genetic diagnosis for human leukocyte antigen matching: is there room for improvement?

Abstract

Preimplantation testing to determine the HLA tissue type of an embryo (preimplantation genetic diagnosis [PGD]-HLA) aims to identify an embryo that is HLA-compatible with an existing sibling in need of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Matched embryos can be transferred to the womb, with the hope that a pregnancy is estab-lished and a donor sibling born. PGD-HLA requires close collaboration between experts in many fields, including hema-tology, HSCT, assisted reproductive tech -nology (ART), embryology and genetics. In fact, many aspects of the procedure incorporate the pioneering work of several Nobel prize winners. PGD-HLA was first reported in 2001, 11 years after the first clinical application of PGD to exclude a monogenic disease