Recent studies suggest a possible link between human assisted reproductive technology and genomic imprinting disorders. Assisted reproductive technology includes the isolation, handling and culture of gametes and early embryos at times when imprinted genes are likely to be particularly vulnerable to external influences. Evidence of sex-specific differences in imprint acquisition suggests that male and female germ cells may be susceptible to perturbations in imprinted genes at specific prenatal and postnatal stages. Imprints acquired first during gametogenesis must be maintained during preimplantation development when reprogramming of the overall genome occurs. In this review, we will discuss both new developments in our understanding of genomic imprinting including the mechanisms and timing of imprint erasure, acquisition and maintenance during germ cell development and early embryogenesis as well as the implications of this research for future epigenetic studies in reproduction and assisted reproductive technology.

中文翻译：

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基因组印记缺陷对生殖和辅助生殖技术的潜在意义。

最近的研究表明，人类辅助生殖技术和基因组印迹障碍之间可能存在联系。辅助生殖技术包括配子和早期胚胎的分离，处理和培养，这时印迹的基因可能特别容易受到外部影响。印记获取中性别特异性差异的证据表明，男性和女性生殖细胞可能在特定的产前和产后阶段容易受到印记基因的干扰。当整个基因组发生重新编程时，必须在配子发生前的发育过程中维持在配子发生期间首先获得的印迹。在这篇评论中，我们将讨论在了解基因组印迹方面的两个新进展，包括擦除印迹的机制和时间，