Assessing the reproductive competence of individual embryos: a proposal for the validation of new “-omics” technologies

Rapid technological advances now provide the tools needed to evaluate the molecular genetics, proteomics, and microenvironment of an individual embryo in an effort to predict its reproductive competence. Rigorous criteria for accepting any test as a validated marker of embryonic reproductive competence should be established, and practitioners should be cautious about applying these tests clinically before the availability of comprehensive and convincing evidence.