Express Genome Screening?

Express Genome Screening (EGS) is a patent pending PGD procedure. It is a simplified version of our OGS-24 method with an extremely easy and reliable "sliding" procedure for sample preparation. The goal of EGS was to develop a procedure that would be instantly available to IVF centers around the world with minimum to no additional training required. For more technical information on the "sliding" procedure please contact ViaGene.

EGS was designed for Gender Selection (EGS-XY) and for 5 Chromosome aneuploidy testing (PGS-5). It is also a very flexible procedure, as it works with Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5 biopsy samples. This allows the embryologist and the doctor to choose what's best for the patient. You can read more about different biopsy types in our PGD Procedure and in the Frequently Asked Questions section.

Who Should Consider EGS-XY?

EGS-XY was developed for patients who are looking to select the gender of their baby for the purposes of family balancing or to assure that their children are not affected by the X-linked genetic disorder carried by one of the parents. For more information please refer to our Gender Selection page.

Who Should Consider EGS-5?

With EGS-5 we screen chromosomes 13, 18, 21, X and Y for all of the so-called "nonlethal chromosomal trisomies," including Down's Syndrome, Patau's Syndrome, Edward's Syndrome, Kleinfelter's Syndrome, and Turner's Syndrome. Please see our section on Aneuploidy Testing for more information on the reasons why prospective parents, especially older prospective parents, should consider EGS-5 or one of the other aneuploidy screenings.

Benefits of EGS

EGS is the fastest, the easiest, and the most reliable PGD technology available today.

Fast: The whole procedure takes less than an hour for EGS-XY and under 3 hours for EGS-5. This means there is absolutely no need to freeze the embryos while waiting for the results. In most cases we can provide results the same day we receive the samples!

Easy: The unique sample preparation, "sliding," for EGS requires no additional training. Any embryologist can perform it in less than five minutes. Our sliding procedure is significantly easier, and much faster, than the tubing or fixation procedures necessary for other PGD methods. Also, unlike Microarray-based PGD methods, EGS is not affected by sample contamination. As a result, sliding can be performed without any special precautions right after the biopsy under the same dissecting scope. For the patient this means less possibility of error, and a much better chance of getting PGD results for each and every embryo biopsied.

Reliable: So far, more than 300 couples have delivered babies of the desired gender after using our EGS service. Furthermore, we routinely perform follow-up testing on embryos marked as aneuploid. Not a single blastocyst, out of thousands analyzed, has ever been incorrectly screened for gender.

Results: Equally important, we always give results. As long as the biopsied cell has a nucleus, you will get accurate results each and every time.