Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis

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.

PGD tests for conditions where the chances of inheriting the disease is at least 1 in 4 and PGS (chromosome abnormalities from repetitive miscarriages or advanced maternal age) and is available for almost all inherited conditions. The procedure is carried out  before implantations, so couples can decide if they wish to proceed with the pregnancy. It avoids amniocentesis if the fetus is defective and helps reduce costs related to birth defects. It allows couples give birth to a biological baby rather than adopt for women struggling to get pregnant. Also, a family may need a bone marrow donor. PGD is

Implantation failure and miscarriage are the two most common reasons for an unsuccessful IVF cycle. Implantation failure is defined as three or more failed IVF attempts. PGD is being used to improve implantation and decrease the number of miscarriage by testing for a specific chromosomal condition called aneuploidy. Aneuploidy is a situation in which either the egg or sperm has an extra (trisomy) or missing (monosomy) chromosome and is the cause of fifty percent or more pregnancy losses. An embryo with a monosomy will cease to grow before implantation. Only a few carrying a trisomy chromosome would develop to term. Those that are carried to term result in physical and mental defects such as Down's syndrome, Klinefelter Syndrome, trisomy thirteen and trisomy eighteen. By using PGD to transfer only chromosomally normal embryos, the number of pregnancies going to term will increase and births resulting in defects will minimize (Cohen). The accuracy of the PGD for aneuploidy is about ninety percent; however it does not increase the chances of successful IVF procedure.

When Crick and Watson and Crick discovered the DNA, people started dreaming and fearing at the same time the day when they will be able to design their own babies, not only free of inherited diseases but with the appearance and intelligence that they want. The fertility institutes have recently offered couples the chance to have their embryos screened, not only free from diseases but also for particular characteristics like eye colour, hair colour, height or even IQ. Even if we see couples from all around the world ready to pay a fortune to have their perfect baby custom made, opponents found this immoral and unethical. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis, “PGD”, has been invented to accompany in vitro fertilization, “IVF”, and screen embryos for hundreds of diseases, often deadly, before the embryo is implanted in the women’s womb.

A positive biological implication of PGD is if they seem to remove the allele from the DNA of the embryo, then the allele will not be present in the generations following.

In-virto fertilization (IVF) and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) can both be used when there is difficulty for a couple to naturally conceive on their own. IVF is defined as a complex series of procedures used to treat fertility or genetic problems and assist with the conception of a child. During IVF, mature eggs are collected from your ovaries and fertilized by sperm in a lab. IVF is the most effective assisted form of reproduction. PGD is defined as the testing of pre-implantation stage embryos or oocytes for genetic defects. It has been developed for couples whose potential offspring are at risk of severe Mendelian disorders, structural chromosome abnormalities or mitochondrial disorders.

PGD helps couples in these situations to have biological children when they may not have done so otherwise because of the high risk of having a child with a serious disability. For these couples, PGD is seen as the more likely option rather than facing the prospect of a termination decision after a prenatal screening later on in the pregnancy. PGD is thought the more ethically desirable option between it and prenatal screening as the destruction of an embryo occurs far earlier in its stage of development. There are however risks and problems associated with PGD.Some embryos may not be suitable for embryo biopsy because they don't reach the right stage of development and are likely to be abnormal.About 1-2% of embryos are damaged during embryo

PGD has received huge attention in recent years because of its ability to ward off approximately 50 percent likelihood of transferring some genetic abnormalities through the opportunity for potential parents to select in vitro only healthy embryos for implantation (Bumgarner, 2007, p.1294). However, the use of this technique is associated with hefty costs, which is a major disadvantage.

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a procedure that tests early-stage human embryos for genetic defects. Its main use is to test for heritable genetic disorders and chromosomal abnormalities, and it may be used to find embryos that are a tissue match for siblings who are living with certain genetic conditions. To undergo PGD, an embryo is created via in vitro fertilisation (IVF), the process by which fusion of an egg and sperm occurs in a laboratory culture dish.

People who are planning a pregnancy generally strive to give birth to a healthy child that is free of notable handicap. To achieve such an end, preimplantation genetic diagnosis is sometimes offered to the minority of persons who have in vitro fertilization. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a technique used to test for certain genetic abnormalities in embryos produced by in vitro fertilization prior to implantation in the uterus. The screening for genetic defects occurs at the six to ten cell stage of embryonic development. Using polymerase chain reaction, the cellular DNA is tested for chromosomal abnormalities or genetic mutations. The embryos found to have serious genetic disorders are either discarded or frozen indefinitely. The

This process has provided a practical alternative to prenatal diagnosis and the termination of pregnancy for people who could potentially transmit a genetic disorder onto their offspring. Even though no authentic engineering is being done through the process of PGD and what genuinely transpires is single cells are abstracted from embryos utilizing the same process that is used in In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Then the cells are examined to identify which cells are carrying a sequence of DNA that will cause a genetic disorder to form. Afterward, the embryos containing a genetic disorder will be discarded, leaving only the embryos that do not contain a genetic disorder to be returned to the uterus. PGD can only work on previously identified genetic disorders. Which means that if parents are worried about their unborn child inheriting a disease or disorder, they can opt to have the embryos check for a specific disease or disorder (Braude Peter et al., 1-3). PGD could lower the percentage of infants that are born with a genetic

Once IVF has taken place and the embryo is obtained, before it is implanted, it can be tested using a process called pre- implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).

1. Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis, or PGD, is a procedure that people can go through to avoid passing down inheritable conditions that can have dangerous long-term effects on their children. It involves screening the mother’s embryos by In-vitro Fertilisation (IVF) for mutations, and selecting healthy embryos for further treatment. This can ‘increase the chance of a genetically normal pregnancy and the chance of having a healthy baby.’ People who are likely to apply to undergo the IVF procedure are couples trying to conceive, but have a family history of genetic diseases that they do not want to pass down.

“Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a procedure used prior to implantation to help identify genetic defects within embryos created through in vitro fertilization to prevent certain diseases or disorders from being passed on to the child.” This definition is from Americanpregnancy.org. PGD is used to screen for genetic diseases in embryos before they are placed back into the Uterus through IVF. If an embryo comes back with a genetic disease it is discarded and the viable embryos are the only ones inserted back into the uterus. There are risks that come with this type of test, 1-2% of embryos tested get damaged in the process, and sometimes not all embryos make it to the stage to go through PGD. IVF is a process by which an egg is fertilised by a sperm outside the body. That means an egg is removed from the woman 's ovaries, it is then fertilised by the sperm in a laboratory. The fertilised egg is then placed back in the womens uterus. Day 0 is the day of fertilisation of the egg, then day one first cleavage, low glucose levels, high lactate, high pyruvate. Then day two the two cell stage, during day 3-4 the zygote goes from 4 cell to 8 cell stage , then day 5-6 the embryo will go through PGD where the cells will be taken from the blastocyst stage, this means no harm should come to the gamete, although it carries risks. PGD has a demand due to genetic disorders that can be inherited from parents to offspring. In New Zealand some

The demand for PGD is constantly increasing with the global pre-implantation genetic diagnosis market estimated to be worth USD 31.9 million in 2011 and is expected to reach USD 47.4 million in 2018. North America dominates the global demand for PGD, and is expected to account for over 30% of the global market followed by Europe at 28% in 2018. Approximately 40 to 60% of New Zealanders will encounter a disease with some form of genetic component within their lifetime and genetic technologies have the potential to help many of them. With access to this new technology future parents with a 1 in 4 chance of having an child possessing a severe genetic defect have the option and opportunity to have a healthy baby free of that specific disease. This will give their baby a higher chance of survival. It has been proven that PGD can also increase a couples chance of conceiving via IVF. PGD has offered physicians and scientists, for the first time ever, the ability to examine far beyond the superficial appearance of an embryo. We are now able to examine the most important internal genetic code of the embryo as well. It was found that embryos of the highest quality may carry a genetic code that makes for a successful pregnancy. Also those women with multiple miscarriages or a previous loss of a child due to a inherited mutation can turn to PGD to prevent any past issues they may have encountered. Although the risk of a miscarriage is reduced possibly by 50%there is still a chance it