Spanish singer serenades 380 IVF embryos
A Spanish singer has performed a special concert to 380 embryos in an IVF clinic in Barcelona. The clinic says the experiment, first of its kind, is based on a study that proves music increases the success rate of IVF.
Antonio Orozco, a singer-songwriter, who is famous across Spain and Latin America, held his concert at the Institut Marquès, a medical institution in Barcelona which specializes in assisted reproduction and gynecology, on Monday.
At least 380 embryos that are currently gestating in the clinic “had an opportunity” to listen to Orozco’s three lyrical songs. The singer was dressed not in his usual performance suit, but in medical uniform.
After his lyrical serenades Orozco praised the medical team, adding that it was “a unique experience," as music is one of the simplest forms of human communication.
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He said that it is “wonderful” that the medical team are applying such a “musical” principle to their research and “making sure music plays a part in life from the very first day."
The experiment was based on the paper dubbed ‘Impact of exposure to music during in Vitro culture on embryo development’, which was presented by the Institut Marquès back in 2013.
The study, which analyzed 985 embryos from 114 different patients, found out that “micro musical vibrations facilitate the fertilization of the egg in the laboratory.”
The results showed that those “cultured with music improved their fertilization rate by 4.8 percent.”
"That is why we have developed an innovative method to incorporate music in all our embryo incubators," the clinic said in a statement.
According to Doctor Marisa López-Teijón, head of Assisted Reproduction, “with this system, we are moving forward in our efforts to reproduce in a laboratory the natural conditions embryos enjoy in utero in order to improve fertilization rates."
