I study the prediction of complex diseases and human traits that result from interactions between multiple genes and lifestyle factors. This research shows that geneticists cannot read the genetic code and know who will be above average in intelligence and athleticism.
Such traits and diseases that result from multiple genes and lifestyle factors cannot be predicted using just DNA, and cannot be designed. Not now. And very unlikely ever. The response was the same in , when a fertility clinic in Fairfax, Virginia, offered sex selection of embryos to screen against diseases that only happen in boys.
In , when 23andMe was granted a patent for a tool that predicts the likelihood of traits in babies based on DNA of two parents, the question of patenting designer babies was raised. In , when the U. Last month , when Genomic Prediction, a New Jersey company, announced its DNA screening panel for embryos would also assess the risk for complex diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease that are caused by multiple genes, fears of engineering babies with high IQ or athletic prowess emerged.
Kitcher, Philip. Justine Burley and John Harris, — Boston: Blackwell Publishing, Lemonick, Michael. Morales, Tatiana. CBS News. Verlinsky, Yuri. Printer-friendly version PDF version. Two technological advances are needed for this to happen, says bioethicist Henry Greely of Stanford University in California. The production of embryos for IVF must become easier, more abundant and less unpleasant. And gene sequencing must be fast and cheap enough to reveal the traits an embryo will have.
It sounds drastic, but would not be much worse than current egg-extraction and embryo-implantation methods. And it could give access to thousands of eggs for future use. An even more dramatic approach would be to grow eggs from stem cells — the cells from which all other tissue types can be derived.
Even mature cells that have advanced beyond the stem-cell stage and become specific tissue types can be returned to a stem-cell-like state by treating them with biological molecules called growth factors. Last October, a team in Japan reported that they had made mouse eggs this way from skin cells, and fertilised them to create apparently healthy and fertile mouse pups.
Thanks to technological advances, the cost of human whole-genome sequencing has plummeted. In a few decades it could cost just a few dollars per genome. Then it becomes feasible to think of PGD for hundreds of embryos at a time. He thinks it will then become common for children to be conceived through IVF using selected genomes. Designer babies: an ethical horror waiting to happen? A design for life: advances in IVF and genetic research are giving prospective parents more control in the type of child they have.
Each embryo has a description, something like this: Embryo 78 — male No serious early onset diseases, but a carrier for phenylketonuria a metabolic malfunction that can cause behavioural and mental disorders. Doctors edge closer to creating babies with DNA from three people. Read more. China said he had acted illegally and "in pursuit of fame and fortune". Writing in the journal Bioethics , Dr Smith said research in this area would offer hope to parents at risk of transmitting serious genetic disease to their future children.
Modern studies show that genetic modification is the only way to deal with multiple disease-associated genes within an embryo. He said the human germline - cells spanning generations - was "by no means perfect", with evolution providing minimal protection from diseases that tend to strike in later years.
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