Huang Zhiqing, Ding Taoli, Ni Zixuan, Zheng Yujie, Liu Na, Li Tuan, Lian Wenchang, Zheng Beihong, Sun Yan
Center of Reproductive Medicine, Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Fuzhou, 350001, China.
College of Clinical Medicine for Obstetrics & Gynecology and Pediatrics, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350001, China.
Biochem Biophys Rep. 2025 Feb 24;41:101962. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrep.2025.101962. eCollection 2025 Mar.
Safety and ethical issues are the primary concerns for assisted reproductive technology (ART). However, confusion and contamination of samples are common problems in embryo laboratories, preimplantation genetic test (PGT) laboratories, and third-party medical testing laboratories due to large sample numbers and complex procedures. Once these problems occur, they are often difficult to trace, posing risks and ethical challenges to hospital reproductive centers, third-party medical testing laboratories, and patient families. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an effective and feasible tracing system to ensure sample safety. In this study, we designed an exogenous encoding sequence (EES) based on DNA data storage technology, which provide a unique identification code for each in vitro cultured embryo, effectively avoiding potential risks and ethical problems caused by sample confusion and contamination. This exogenous encoding sequence is a DNA molecule that is non-toxic and structurally stable. We verified that a small amount of exogenous encoding sequence (6∗109 copies/uL) can be amplified together with embryo biopsy cells and detected by various sequencing methods without affecting copy number variants (CNVs). Furthermore, if there is contamination from other samples at a proportion of more than 5 %, it can also be identified through the encoding information of the exogenous encoding sequence. Our study proves that the exogenous encoding sequence designed based on DNA data storage technology is effective and reliable, and can be applied in hospital reproductive centers and third-party medical testing laboratories to improve the safety of in vitro cultured embryos and avoid potential ethical problems in the future.
安全和伦理问题是辅助生殖技术（ART）的主要关注点。然而，由于样本数量庞大和程序复杂，样本混淆和污染在胚胎实验室、植入前基因检测（PGT）实验室以及第三方医学检测实验室中是常见问题。一旦这些问题发生，往往难以追踪，给医院生殖中心、第三方医学检测实验室和患者家庭带来风险和伦理挑战。因此，有必要建立一个有效且可行的追踪系统来确保样本安全。在本研究中，我们基于DNA数据存储技术设计了一种外源编码序列（EES），它为每个体外培养的胚胎提供唯一的识别码，有效避免了样本混淆和污染引起的潜在风险和伦理问题。这种外源编码序列是一种无毒且结构稳定的DNA分子。我们验证了少量的外源编码序列（6×10⁹拷贝/微升）可以与胚胎活检细胞一起扩增，并通过各种测序方法检测到，而不会影响拷贝数变异（CNV）。此外，如果存在比例超过5%的其他样本污染，也可以通过外源编码序列的编码信息识别出来。我们的研究证明，基于DNA数据存储技术设计的外源编码序列是有效且可靠的，可应用于医院生殖中心和第三方医学检测实验室，以提高体外培养胚胎的安全性，并避免未来潜在的伦理问题。
