Imagine, a thirty year old woman wants to start her own family but has family history of Alzheimer’s disease and has tested positive for the Alzheimer’s genes as well. In fear of passing on the disease to her child, she underwent preimplantation genetic diagnosis, also known as PGD. The woman decided to implant embryos without the Alzheimer’s gene into her womb and months later, she gave birth to a healthy baby, free of the Alzheimer’s gene. Currently, preimplantation genetic diagnosis is mostly only used in similar cases, like eliminating the possibility to obtain life-affecting diseases. Many people would agree that PGD is for the great good of the planet but however, there are possible negative results that could come out of PGD and designer …show more content…
Firstly, being able to detect genetic disorders, such as Down Syndrome, could result in the parents aborting the fetus. Margaret Somerville said in Choosing The Perfect Child,"In short, the new genetics is functioning as eugenics, but that fact is not identified. Decisions by individuals based on preimplantation genetic diagnosis of IVF embryos, or prenatal screening of foetuses mean we will eliminate certain groups of people, for example, Down's Syndrome children, from our society. In short, an outcome that would never be acceptable as public policy is being implemented through the accumulation of individual choices”(actionlife.org). To abort a child because of their genes are incorrect and need extra assistance with daily chores is selfish and inhuman. Not to mention, if a family had PGD on their child and received a false positive result, the unborn child could very well be killed needlessly. Then secondly, if all PGD got rid of all genetically transferred diseases, it could affect the world’s population. Since more lives would be saved, the world’s population would increase at an alarming rate. It would cause the the world’s resources dwindle down extensively and make the resources very
New evidence states a viral infection brings Alzheimer’s to light. A recent editorial from the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease shifts focus from immune system suppression to a viral infection. Dr. Douglas Kell, a professor at the University of Manchester’s School of Chemistry, claims, “We are saying there is an incontrovertible evidence that Alzheimer’s disease has a dormant microbial (viral) component. We can’t keep ignoring all of the evidence” (Knapton). Viruses are commonly found in the brains of elderly people. In most cases, they have all of their bodily functions. Around two-thirds of people will contract the viral infection herpes at some point in their lifetime. Herpes has been known to damage the central nervous system in humans.
According to the National Foster Youth institute, “More than 23,000 children age out of the US foster care system every year.”() Aging out is the process of a teens transitioning from the legal control of the foster care system, to independent living. Youth aging out of foster care should be given an extension on foster care services after the age of 18, because it provides a stable home for teens, it increases the amount of college graduates and it provides healthcare for those in need.
PGD is known as pre-implantation genetic diagnosing. I do not think it is ethical to design and conceive a child that meets specific genetic requirements. I do not feel that this is an ethical reason to conceive a child. Rather, I believe all children should be seen as blessings or gifts, not sacrificial genetic progeny.
get it, but most cases are the only ones in a family. Some patients who develop
Alzheimer’s disease is nothing we can control. Unfortunately, this disease is a progressive, devastating brain illness that causes cognitive decline, including memory, language and thinking problems; which also happens to have no current cure even after all the years of trying to find one. “It is unknown what causes Alzheimer’s disease but older age and family history appear to play a role.” (Shu, 2011) Not only do age and family history play a factor in Alzheimer’s Disease, changes to the immune system can also play a part. However, throughout the years of our knowledge of Alzheimer’s, there have been many claims that the influenza vaccination (flu shot) increases the risk of getting this disease. This has caused a great deal of worry in many people, mostly elders. They’re not sure if they should get the vaccine, or if their loved ones with dementia should continue to get the vaccination. However, before this claim was made, numerous people were getting the influenza
Over 7,500 animals are killed in zoos because they are deemed surplus, as stated by Liz Tyson an animals rights activist. This giraffe in particular sparked a huge controversy. HIs name was Marius, he was homed at the Copenhagen Zoo and was 2 years old when the staff killed him with a bolt gun. Marius was then dissected and fed to lions in front of ongoing zoo goers. What got people fuming is that he was a healthy, young giraffe. Therefore I believe the killing of Marius should not be justified.
In this informational story we will be discussing the topic of alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s is a very serious disease, it causes many problems to the brain. It will cause judgement issues, memory loss, etc. I know this because my great grandmother has alzheimer’s and it really causes problems. How does alzheimer’s develop?
Currently it is only legally possible to carry out two types of advanced reproductive technologies on humans. The first involves choosing the sperm to fertilize the egg, which will determine the sex and the genes of the baby. The second technique screens embryos for a genetic disease and only selected embryos are implanted back into the mother’s womb. This is called Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD).
“Imagine you are in a very, very, very slow moving car crash, nothing seems to be happening there is the occasional bang, crunch, a screw pops out spins out across the dash board, like you’re in Apollo 13. However the radio is still playing the heat is on and it does not seem that bad except the certain knowledge that you will definitely be going head first through the wind screen.”(Pratchett, 2010).This is from a documentary Shaking hands with death, by Sir Terry Pratchett an author diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Who wished to end his life before Alzheimer’s took over his body; Pratchett was a proponent for euthanasia and believed man should be allowed to live and die however he wishes. According to Pratchett (Pratchett, 2010).He believed that
Most parents think their child is always safe as long as they have a helmet with their chinstrap. That is not always the case there is no way to truly escape that risk. I am a victim to having succumbed to the belief that I was safe when they gave me a special helmet to prevent concussions and I was able to get a concussion still. They add more padding inside the helmet, but that does not stop the vibrations that knock your brain around inside your skull. There is no padding for inside your head to to protect your brain. Your child will never be 100 percent safe playing football.
Alzheimer’s is a degenerative disease of the brain that causes gradual loss of memory, judgement, and the ability to function socially. Or in other words it destroys your memory and other mental functions. The main symptoms are memory loss and confusion. They also may experience behavioral or mood issues. Also, cause you to jumble speech, forget things, and have a difficulty concentrating. Causes that lead to Alzheimer’s are age, genetics, and family history. After age 65 the risk of getting this disease doubles every five years, after age 85 the risk increases to almost 50%. You will have a greater chance to get this disease if someone in your family already has it.
Sarah Alsamarai is a university student who conducted a research report on PGD. Although she shared her concerns she was overall for PGD. She said that PGD can be used as an effective tool to prevent the birth of a seriously ill child. Her opinion was that parents should have the right to use existing embryo screening tests to determine all possible characteristics of offspring. Unless a tangible harm to
Alzheimer's Disease is a condition that affects 50% of the population over the age of eighty five, which equals four million Americans each year. It is becoming an important and high-profile issue in today's society for everyone. There are rapid advancements being made in the fight against this disease now more than ever, and the purpose of this essay is to educate the public on the background as well as the new discoveries. There are many new drugs that are being tested and studied every day which slow down, and may even halt the progress of the disease.
A family can be given the option to abort a pregnancy with a positive result for a genetic disorder, or be discouraged from having more children or any children based on their genomes. Many would argue that this inappropriately interferes with the “natural course of things”, or to some, “God’s Creation”. Another taboo issue attached to the topic of genetic research is cloning, and the implications of having two exactly identical entities in existence at the same time, and what their uses could be. Genetics and genomics are also used in vaccinations and immunizations, as well as biotechnical mass production exogenous human hormones. Bacteria can be loaded with the gene to create human insulin, and they will perform that function tirelessly, like a mill. Doctors have proposed loading a virus with a gene of choice and injecting it into a human being to take advantage of the mechanism of the virus and change someone’s DNA. There are some that would argue that these discoveries warrant complete eradication of certain diseases, due to the ability to do so. Ones that definitively harm the body, such as Ebola, drug-resistant strains of staph and strep, and E. Coli are investigated using genetic information from those microorganisms. On the other hand, with the early detection of intellectual disability and mental retardation, diseases such as down syndrome could be eradicated as well. While this science is
The goal of PGD is to produce a viable and healthy child free of any severe hereditary diseases. “the issue here is whether this goal should include accepting embryos with a ‘carrier’ test result.” This means the embryos may be free of the defect with little possibility of them possessing the disease, however there is a possibility that their offspring (embryos child) may inherit the relevant genes. Therefore parents selecting purely unaffected and non-carrier embryos pose the question that maybe in this instance PGD goes beyond the health of the immediate child being tested.