Reception Rehearsal

IVF can be costly in time, money, and emotional and physical energy for people trying to get pregnant. One major challenge is tailoring strategies for each individual so that every implantation attempt has the best possible chance of success. Researchers have developed a way to assess the recipient's uterine lining outside the body, using an engineered endometrium-on-a-chip made from an individual’s own cells. The platform (pictured, with both multi-layered blood vessels, red, and overall cell structure, green) recreates a realistic miniature of the uterine lining rather than a simple collection of cells. This approach allows clinicians to evaluate how receptive the lining is to embryo implantation and to test potential treatments before giving them. The team also developed a scoring system to quantify endometrial receptivity, enabling truly personalised treatment aimed at improving implantation success and pregnancy outcomes.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

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• Image from work by Gaeun Lee, Yu-Gyeong Lee and Hwa Seon Koo, and colleagues
• Department of Life Science, Graduate School, CHA University, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
• Published in Nature Communications, November 2025