Should Scientists Be Allowed to Perform DNA Tests on Selecting Human Embryos?

A Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) is a test that “allows future parents to detect genetic defects that cause inherited disease in human embryos before they are implanted.” One of the most ethical questions that one might ask before considering the PGD is whether the benefits of genetic knowledge outweigh harmful effects that occur to the embryo? Is it really worth manipulating embryos genes in order to achieve the desire of the parents? Often times we have to take into considerations the risk and benefits of each situation. I believe that the PGD test should be only be done to detect genetic defects, but it should not be used to manipulate genes in order to make what to them is a “perfect” child. As stated in our text, “ In the united Kingdom alteration of an embryos genes, even for gene therapy or cloning embryos is illegal.” By manipulating genes its like going against Gods wishes. In the eyes of God every person that comes into this world is equally seen as a human being because they are all created in “ the image of God.” In this case the parents should not be allowed to manipulate the genes of their unborn child just to accommodate to their

Genetic testing has brought about many changes in the way many couples look at conceiving and raising families. Through genetic testing you are able to screen for the increased chance that a fetus may have one of many congenital disorders, or even identify gene changes that are responsible for a disease that has already been diagnosed (Genetic Testing, March 2015). Unfortunately genetic testing is not always exact, in some cases giving parents false negatives or false positive results. Even if the results are accurate, there is the burden of knowledge once you know the results indicate a genetic abnormality such as Down’s syndrome. While caring for a 2 year old male patient with developmental delays and anotia, I learned that genetic testing had been started but never completed on the child. Genetic testing could help to identify genetic disorders that led to the child’s developmental delays and possible future disorders that may develop. The ethical dilemma I will be discussing to the ANA Ethical dilemma of the impact of informed consent of genetic testing on children for adult onset diseases and disorders.

King first touches on the topic of in vitro fertilization and the opportunities it offers for couples who cannot conceive naturally. She goes on to discuss the topic of research on the human embryos that does not get implanted into the woman’s body. Research is being

Chan School of Public Health revealed that “Roughly one in four Americans (26%) think changing the genes of unborn babies should be legal to reduce their risk of developing certain serious diseases, while 65 percent think it should be illegal.” (Harvard 1) The prospect of engineering a child, however, is not as far-fetched as one may believe. Sarah Ly explains in her article for The Embryo Project Encyclopedia that “IVF has become an increasingly common procedure to help couples with infertility problems conceive children, and the practice of IVF confers the ability to pre-select embryos before implantation. For example, preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) allows viable embryos to be screened for various genetic traits, such as sex-linked diseases, before implanting them in the mother.”. (Sara Ly) Though it is an unpopular position to hold, many modern families would fight for their reproductive rights because their families would not have been possible without the aid of medical intervention. In an early and well-known case of gender selection, Monique and Scott Collins visited doctors at the Genetics & IVF Institute in Fairfax, Virginia, in 1996 for in vitro fertilization. Monique and Scott Collins desired to have a girl, because their first two children were boys, and the couple wanted a daughter in the family. Even though this procedure was performed to achieve the parents’ desire to create a more balanced family, this was one of the first highly publicized instances of PGD, as the decision was for a more cosmetic purpose rather than to address a specific medical condition. The Collins’ decision to have a “designer baby” by choosing the sex of their child entered the public eye when they were featured in Time Magazine’s 1999 article "Designer Babies". Even though the Collins’ case only involved choice of gender, it raised issues of choice for all other traits such as hair color, eye color, height, or

As time goes on civilizations find innovations to make living a little bit easier. However, new frontiers often bring struggles. In Flackelmann’s articles on “ The Ethics of DNA Testing” four situations are given and later followed by a comprehensive analysis by both the public and by experts in ethics, law, genetics and any other various fields that correlate with the cases’ scenarios. The first scenario (titled “ A Case of Dwarfism”) describes the story of a couple who are carrying the gene for achondroplasia, meaning they both are dwarfs. The counselor tells the parents that through genetic testing they can find out whether or not the child will have dwarfism as well. The couple has made 3 decisions; the first being that if the child has

The distress and the health risk to the mother are concerns when viewed through the lens of the principle of nonmaleficence or of “do no harm”. The accessibility and cost of the prenatal genetic testing are contentious. Although prenatal genetic testing is considered to be a useful tool, some believe it leads us down a “slippery slope”. Controversy exists surrounding prenatal genetic testing for reasons of social, psychological, moral, and religious rationales.

United States genetic centers now offer DNA tests for over 30 or 40 of the more commonly inherited disorders. Those including cystic fibrosis, susceptibility to breast cancer, X syndrome, Huntington’s disease, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and many other various disorders (Golden). Also, with recent developments, couples are able to have a pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). This procedure allows the testing of genetic disorders before germination. It consists of “petri-dish” testing of sperm and egg cells donated by the soon to be parents. This procedure prevents the idea of abortion, for if genetic problems occur, you are not destroying a fetus, but simple flushing away embryo cells.

One advantage is the ability to reduce the risk for diseases. Through procedures like pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), one can inspect embryos created by in vitro fertilization (IVF) for many genetic conditions (Macklin, 2014, para. 1). While this process can be extremely beneficial ensuring the health of future generations, it can be misused in many ways.

However an advancement in technology before the turn of twenty- first century makes designer babies a real possibility, staates, Sarah Ly Keywords. This article shows that designer babies have created controversy about whether it's ethical or unethical and on whether it is necessary to implement limitations regarding designer babies in the future. Like I said before, PGD allows viable embryos to be screened for various genetic traits, such as sex-linked diseases. Furthermore, this article proves that people may use PGD for a different reason. For example, this article explains about a couple who already had conceive two boys, but they wanted a girl.

Pre-screening for disabilities and genetic enhancement are vital factors in the decision to place restrictions for selective genetic abortion. All human life should be of equal worth, supporting the ideal that life-and-death decisions for seriously compromised newborns should not be based on the quality of life (CITE 3). Screening for genetic diseases through the use of in vitro fertilization, or IVF, limits and excludes those with disabilities from our society, exposing limits on morality. These include transgression of divine laws, transgression of natural laws, introduction of an unacceptable risk of harm, introduction of a threat to genetic diversity, introduction of a threat to one’s common genetic heritage, paradoxical counterproductively, a misuse of social resources, a widened gap between the “haves and “have nots”, promotion of social conformity and homogeneity, and lastly undermining free choice (Fisher, 2013). From these points it is important to recognize the impact it has upon our society, and how we perceive, and behave towards those with a disability. The practise of introducing selective abortion through the use of IVF and genetic testing will create a hostile environment going forward into the future for those who escape detection before birth. This will cause potential discrimination against those with a disability, making them liable to be looked down upon by the community and unfit to be alive (Fisher, 2013). Thus this can create a second class or even a

Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) is a reproductive technology in which, embryos are genetically analysed, before either being implanted into the uterus or discarded. It is most commonly used to avoid genetic diseases. Many ethical issues have been raised due to the increasing use of this technology. Eugenics is the process of enhancing the gene pool, for the improvement of humanity. One objection to the use of PGD technology is that it is unethical as it will lead to negative outcomes associated with the past eugenic movement.

Pre-implantation genetic diagnostic testing is a technique that is used to identify and prevent genetic defects in the embryos of mothers through in vitro fertilization before pregnancy. The term “designer babies” is what is used to describe the result of this procedure. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis can cause new issues to arise through society, morality and even science, thus this procedure should be prevented. As these certain issues of society, morality and science combine together, it can lead a negative ripple effect on humanity.

Advancements in science has led to the possibility of humans being genetically modified or cloned for stem cell purposes. Such possibilities have lead to many ethical concerns and lead us to ask the question, should scientists be doing this? My personal belief is no they should not. In this essay i'm going to show some supporting facts and information to back up why I believe they shouldn't.

Although PGD is a relatively new procedure, there are several ethical questions surrounding its use. One question is, "Should parents be allowed to choose characteristics for their children that are not related to disorders such as their baby’s eye color, personality, or even the sex of their baby?" [Wekesser,1996]. Until the genes responsible for inherited traits such as the previously mentioned are mapped, this is not an issue. If scientists do not know where the gene is located, they are unable to create a test determining the presence of the gene. However, because we do know how the sex of a child is determined, a specific gender can be screened for. Many believe that this should

Testing on humans is not limited to mature humans, but in fact a major part of genetic testing is conducted on human embryos. "A human embryo is created by the union of a single male sperm cell and a female egg. After fertilization by the sperm cell, the egg begins to divide into more cells" (Szumski and Karson 11). These human embryos are very versatile and undifferentiated cells. With the potential to become any type of tissue cell