The Ethical Debate Over Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis

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

In the article “Selecting the Perfect Baby: The Ethics of “Embryo Design,” is an article about a married couple, name Larry and June Shannon. They have a daughter, four years old, name Sally, who is diagnosed with Fanconi Anemia. Therefore, the Shannons are getting help from a research team, to find the perfect bone marrow transplant for Sally. The Shannon couple is also interested in having another child and they are aware of the risks and odds of success. However, a PGD process has to be performed and the couple must undergo an IVF procedure more than once, before the implantation is successful, to be able to produce a healthy full-term baby.

Picture a young couple in a waiting room looking through a catalogue together. This catalogue is a little different from what you might expect. In this catalogue, specific traits for babies are being sold to couples to help them create the "perfect baby." This may seem like a bizarre scenario, but it may not be too far off in the future. Designing babies using genetic enhancement is an issue that is gaining more and more attention in the news. This controversial issue, once thought to be only possible in the realm of science-fiction, is causing people to discuss the moral issues surrounding genetic enhancement and germ line engineering. Though genetic research can prove beneficial to learning how to prevent hereditary

Modern technologies are constantly advancing in a multitude of ways to the degree that scientists have gained enough knowledgeable about the human genome to be able to find specific genes during the embryonic stage of reproduction. Scientists have already begun to use this knowledge to allow parents the ability to select the sex of their child and screen for genetic diseases via preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) with in vitro fertilization (IVF). Sex-selection has already created world-wide discussion regarding the ethics of such a situation. However, scientists are now looking toward germline engineering which will essentially allow parents to select and alter genetic traits of their children before implantation of the embryo into

For many people, the term “designer babies” sounds like something that could only exist in the novel, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. But, science has now advanced to the point where faulty genes can now be singled out, discarded, and replaced with more favorable ones. Just like the 16,012 babies manufactured in the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre in Brave New World, human embryos can be selected for fertilization based on their genes. This is done through the processes of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). This involves removing mature egg cells from a woman and fertilizing it with male sperm outside of the body. The embryos are then analyzed for abnormalities and mutations in the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The healthiest embryos are then implanted back into the woman’s uterus for regular gestation (Yount). The development of these techniques originated from the Human Genome Project initiated by the United States government in 1988 (Siegel-Itzkovich). Although established initially with the purpose of selecting healthy embryos free of disease, the same techniques can be applied to select genes that code for traits such as intelligence, strength, and beauty. IVF and PGD are useful techniques but should only be used for medical purposes, not for selecting the embryos of perfect children.

One of the biggest ethical arguments against gene editing is that it is unnatural, unsafe and “amounts to playing god” (“Pro and Con: Should Gene Editing,” 2016). I feel that for as long as humans have been living on this earth, we have been reproducing without any knowledge of what deformations, diseases, other life-threatening illnesses or even the eye and hair color that one could be born with. Until recently there has been no way that embryos could be screened for parents to know what complications they might encounter after the birth of their child. Today, the use of a technology called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) used in in vitro fertilization

PGD (pre-implantation genetic diagnosis) is one way to create a designer baby. This allows doctors to determine the sex of an embryo, whether the embryo has a genetic disease, and if the embryo has certain genes which cause traits like intelligence and musical ability (Bostrom 19). The doctor screens multiple embryos to see what traits the it carries, and the parents can choose which embryo they desire (Ethical questions over designer babies). Another way to create a designer baby is to use a donor gamete. This allows parents to match a donor gamete with desired traits to one of their own and then implant that embryo through in vitro fertilisation (Bostrom 19). Currently, it is not possible for doctors to screen for intelligence and musical ability, but it is possible to screen for gender, eye color, and genetic diseases. There is also a technique called CRISPR which, in the future, could allow scientist to edit the embryo’s genes to ensure the baby has certain

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.

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis is a technology that “has steadily expanded its scope, often in contentious ways. Embryo screening, for example, is sometimes used to create a “savior sibling”-- a younger sister or brother whose healthy cells can be harvested to treat an older sibling with serious illness, It is also increasingly used to weed out embryos at risk of genetic diseases” (Robinson). After awhile of using PGD to help a child or make sure nothing was to happen to a child they realized that the could even change the appearances of children. By doing this they take away racial diversity and end up making the world have genetic consequences. By letting this happen this means the world would be okay with only having a few races and children who are either made without being genetically engineered or being genetically engineered and feel like they are a better

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.

The element of excitement when procreating offspring ceases with the development of Genetic Engineering. Parents will no longer wonder if their child will have grandma’s curly brown mane or Uncle Todd’s piercing gray gaze. The scientific breakthrough in technology of Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD), originally created to screen diseases in embryos, has now become tantamount to an online shopping cart for determining cosmetic traits. To the parents who wish to decide what their children look like, you may be headed in the direction of becoming Adolf Hitler Lite. Using reproductive technologies to determine cosmetic features borders on scientifically useless and irresponsible, as it is basically a guise to revive eugenics.

Tia Ghose expressed on Purch that a law and bioethics professor at the University of Texas in Austin made known that designing babies is not as risky as people think and that if the circumstances are giving them an opportunity to decide between four embryos and “one of those embryos has a perfect pitch trait,” then why shouldn’t they “choose that embryo.” Even scientists are arguing that it is way better to take the risk of crafting a child than to live without a superlative healthy child which is evidently not every parent’s dream. The choices should be completely open and it should be limitless for parents who desire to construct a baby because after all, it is the parent's decision whether they want to acquire a baby through this mean or not. They have authority over their lives and if they really do want to personalize their baby, they should feel free to do so without being intimidated by society. The statements of credible scientists help convince the public why they should follow this process without allowing others or a sense of guilt from holding them back. Correspondingly to this quote is, “‘There needs to be a debate...and some rational thought rather than knee-jerk reactions that, ‘No you can’t possibly do that,’” conveyed Professor Robin Lovell-Badge from the UK Medical Research Council on an article written by James Gallagher in BBC. According to professor Robin Lovell-Badge, people are directly judging the modification of babies by the plain reason that nothing would compel them to rethink that breeding a child through this process is morally ethical. They are too blinded by the negativity of this phenomenal new way of breeding that they won’t rationalize the benefits this process can bring to the community. Since the procedure is bounded to be inevitable, it is suitable for the public to

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

While the cost of having a child rises with reproductive technologies, the demands of parents and partners have grown to be more superficial. Originally, the process of IVF helped infertile women conceive a baby when all other options failed. PGD was also in use to help families be aware of potential disorders their baby may have, allowing them to prepare for a life with a special needs child. However, now parents are using this process to get rid of embryos with genetic disorders, and even going to the extent of picking a child’s eye color. Human genome mapping is a recent scientific technique that allows researchers to dig deeper into DNA and look at each specific chromosome. With this process, more characteristics of a child are modified and picked out by families wishing for a baby. While this might seem glamorous, it moves pregnancy into a superficial realm. In our society, hair, height, and athletic ability frequently define you, leading parents to want to create “perfect babies”. While people have different ideas of perfection, they are basing their child’s characteristic on what the world wants, or what will make the child likeable and successful as he grows up. It reflects deeply on our society’s values, whether we are gaining, or losing our respect of the individual. The physical attributes have come to outweigh a