04/02/2025
Kindai University
Fuso Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd.
Nara Medical University
Keio University
Asada Ladies Clinic
Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
Kyoto University
A research group including Professor Kazuo Yamagata of the Department of Genetic Engineering, Faculty of Biology-Oriented Science and Technology, Kindai University (Kinokawa, Wakayama); Senior Researcher Tatsuma Yao of Fuso Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. (Osaka, Osaka); Professor Kazuki Kurimoto of the School of Medicine, Nara Medical University (Kashihara, Nara); Professor Akira Funahashi of the Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University (Yokohama, Kanagawa); Researcher Mikiko Tokoro of the Asada Ladies Clinic (Nagoya, Aichi); Professor Satoshi Sugimura of the Institute of Global Innovation Research, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (Fuchu, Tokyo); and Professor Takuya Yamamoto of Kyoto University (Kyoto, Kyoto) has discovered that toxic substances that inhibit the development of fertilized eggs (embryos) leach from glassware used for the manipulation and culture of fertilized eggs in assisted reproductive technology, animal husbandry, and basic research. The group also identified the toxic substance as zinc and developed a countermeasure by analyzing its effects on mouse, bovine, and human fertilized eggs in detail. The results of this research suggest that poor outcomes in in vitro fertilization with unknown causes may be due to the toxicity of glassware, and it is expected to lead to the development of safer and more effective in vitro fertilization methods in the future.
A paper on this research was published online in the journal of the Society for the Study of Reproduction, *Biology of Reproduction*, on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, at 9:01 AM (JST).
For the full press release, please see below.