To improve IVF, these scientists are looking at adding some womb fluids

In vitro fertilization has been a huge success story in reproductive medicine. In just the last three decades it’s gone from a highly experimental treatment to one over 60,000 women in the U.S. use to conceive every year.

But it’s not perfect. Data have shown that infants conceived via IVF are at a slightly higher risk for some birth defects and genetic disorders, and are more likely to be born at low birth weight. One possible cause for these differences is epigenetics — that is, the markers that turn genes on and off. Scientists have noticed that IVF embryos have subtly different