Inventors:
Michael D. Cecchi - Madison CT
Jacques Cohen - Mountain Lakes NJ
Timothy Schimmel - Randolph NJ
Assignee:
GenX International Corp. - Guilford CT
International Classification:
C12M 300
US Classification:
4353052, 435 29, 435366, 435373, 4352885, 4352975
Abstract:
An embryo culturing method and apparatus enables a plurality of embryos to be grown in communal clusters in a culturing container. The embryos are kept separate from each other in open interconnected compartments that are disposed in the culture container. Each compartment is contained in a structure having a plurality of interconnected compartments, and each compartment is sized to contain a single embryo. The culturing container will contain a plurality of the compartmentalized structures. The method and apparatus of this invention includes a culturing container, such as a Petrie dish, in which the embryos are grown. The Petrie dish preferably contains a plurality of the embryo-culturing compartmentalized structures which can be positioned in the Petrie dish in a predetermined pattern. For example, the compartmentalized structuress can be positioned in the Petrie dish at the 12 OClock, 2 OClock, 4 OClock, 8 OClock and 10 Oclock positions, or in any other planned deployment. The individual structures can be individually identified by letters, for example, such as A, B, C, D, etc.