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The Pros And Cons Of Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis

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Introduction Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a process that allows the screening of embryos that are at risk of inheriting a specific genetic disease. The embryos are generated by in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and are then screened. IVF is a medical procedure where an egg is fertilised by a sperm in a test tube outside of the body. The topic of PGD and IVF is a very controversial topic that has many opinions both for and against the process. Why is this a socio-scientific issue? PGD is a very controversial topic as many people believe that you are “Playing God” when choosing the most suitable embryo instead of having a child naturally. By choosing the embryo that may be more suitable, it is not allowing natural selection to take …show more content…

To be considered for this process, there must be a known single disease/mutation that the child is likely to inherit because of family history, a previous affected child or HLA matching also known as a ‘saviour sibling’. There must also be at least a 1 in 4 chance that the serious condition will be inherited in able to get approval from the ethic committee. The use of PGD for sex selection is not permitted in New Zealand but it is allowed in other countries. This is seen as a step towards designer babies where you can choose which characteristics you want your child to …show more content…

This could mean that the genes for specific genes are being selected against and may eventually be lost. Another implication of this process is that it means there is a smaller gene pool within the population as the frequency of the genetic diseases will decrease. This could be a problem for people who are living with specific diseases/conditions today as they may feel that they are being discriminated against and like people don’t want to have children that are like them. As the PGD technology develops, it could lead to people being able to choose the babies characteristics such as gender, eye colour, intelligence etc. This is also known as ‘designer

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Designer genetics to create a baby after careful selection is a meme, and “we can say that memes are ‘selfish’, that they ‘do not care’, that they ‘want’ to propagate themselves, and so on, when all we mean is that successful memes are the ones that get copied and spread, while unsuccessful ones do not” (Blackmore 37), and some may consider this genetic modification to be a successful meme which is why parents are so willing to try it. By using technology in this type of way, it may possibly benefit some if it is spread for good causes, such as helping a baby be born without a disease that is known to run in the family so the parents won’t have to see their child go through pain. Many parents put their faith in “23andMe” and their technology because it is their last hope to be able to conceive a child without them having to worry about any debilitating disease or disabilities and since this procedure would be implicated even before the child is developed, there would be no questions of morality. However, some people might take advantage of this new technology and use it for nothing more than creating their fantasy child, as they start to choose non-health related traits such as weight, height, gender and eye color.

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As discussed in the article, the ethical issues surrounding pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PES) are genetic fatalism and the 'new' eugenics movement. Drawing on these concepts and my stance on the interconnection between Eugenics and PES, this essay argues that selecting genetic traits through PES is unethical. This essay's argument will be achieved by first discussing the context of the article. Secondly, in an isolated analysis, I will discuss how genetic essentialism and fatalism can potentially undermine the autonomy and dignity of individuals whilst using a phenomenological framework and discussing choices involved in one's life. Then I will discuss the issue of 'new' eugenics, a free market system of eugenics, which can lead to further social inequalities for those deemed less desirable.

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445 Words | 2 Pages

Amniocentesis is an alternative for PGD, it is a high risk process which sometimes leads to termination of pregnancy. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis is consider when one or both parents have a genetic abnormality and is at risk of transferring to their children. The process of preimplantation of genetic diagnosis removes a cell from an in virtro fertilization embryo for genetic testing. Affected embryos are not used for this process, only unaffected embryos are used to prevent the later termination or pregnancy.

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“Mankind will take on more responsibility for his own evolution” (Wilmut and Highfield 249). Patients, parents and regulators will bear the burden of responsibility when deciding whether technology should be used and under what circumstances it should be used. There are four main stakeholders in designer babies. First is the babies because they are the ones affected the most, as the main target of PGD. When deciding whether or not to design a baby, one should first think about the babies desire.

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699 Words | 3 Pages

Regardless of the improvements that have been made there is still a risk of miscarriages as a result. This risk factors can be contributed to the invasiveness of the procedure as well as the time during the pregnancy at which it is performed. The later the genetic testing is performed, the more developed the unborn child is and the later the possible abortion would take place. The two most common forms of testing are ¨amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling¨ (Rebouché and Rothenberg 989). Both of these tests ¨[require] extracting cells from the fetus in utero, either through the mother 's abdomen or vagina¨ (Rebouché and Rothenberg 989).

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Aside from designer babies, their parents are also other primary stakeholders that hold responsibilities for their decisions. If they make a correct decision that is obtaining the exact type of babies they want, then they are doing a good deed. Thanks to PGD, many couples can now create designer babies in order to save their sick child or to prevent their children from getting inherited diseases. Apparently, most parents want their children to be healthy and perform well in school. Genetic modification techniques actually bring parents one step closer to their expectations.

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According to Munson (2014), through genetic screening or testing, birth of infants with debilitating or crippling defects can be avoided. Also through testing, disease and illness could be eradicated because the gene that causes the disease or illness would not be passed on to the next generation. This is consider eugenics. Some in the medical field have a negative feeling towards this, as if to be playing God. There are others in the medical field on the extreme end feel that laws should be developed that couples with known genes that cause genetic disorders must not have children or if they do selection of embryos are done (Munson, 2014).

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Though Greely mentions fairness issues, PGD and IVF can lead to not only a justice issue in terms of fairness, but also reproductive injustice and structural injustice. Despite having a constitutional right to procreate and to parent, physicians can turn individuals away from IVF due to their sexual orientation and their marital status. By allowing physicians to refuse to aid non-traditional heterosexual couples, states have allowed physicians to determine who should be allowed to be a parent and who should not - thereby maintaining the idea of what a family is “supposed” to look like. So, not only does PGD and IVF allow for the potential for physicians to discriminate against which individuals should have access to these technologies, but also in regard to what kind of babies should be born, i.e. babies without certain disorders and without disabilities. But, who is to say which kinds of lives are worth living and which are not?

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1584 Words | 7 Pages

Therefore, if two parents are carriers of a certain gene that will disable their child, they can modify that gene to make a child that will not have that disability. As well as some parents will have designer babies to save another child they already have with a certain disease. In this method, parents will choose their child’s blood type and such in order for them to match that other diseased child and potentially give them their blood, marrow, and even organs. Genetically modifying a child’s chance of disease ensures that a child may live a life without potential disease and disability that they may have been more prone to had their parents’ not used this method. This also ensures a healthy life for a child that had a greater potential of having a medical condition due to their parents being carriers of that particular gene.

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724 Words | 3 Pages

As technology advances, more things become possible. One of these things is genetically modifying a baby, this is very wrong. Genetic modifying or genetic engineering is altering someone or something’s DNA. Scientists hope to cure diseases with this method but doing this can lead to some harmful effects. This process is very unethical.

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1986 Words | 8 Pages

Clinics are saying there are large amounts of requests for eugenics, and it is wanted in many areas. Many factors are included in a PGD. Human traits are controlled by several genetic factors and knowledge of how they work. While many countries have banned PGD, due to gender selection, the U.S has

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930 Words | 4 Pages

While some people belief that by using IVF the people are destroying the natural cycle of life. They belief that a baby should be born through a natural process and that by using IVF the people are “playing God”. They also argue that IVF “dehumanize women and reduce them to empty vessels waiting to be filled with babies for the benefit of men” (Farris Naff 19). They believe that women go through the process of IVF because they want to satisfy their partner instead of themselves. Even though, IVF can be convenient for women, it is known that IVF can have some bad outcomes to some.

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Everyone is entitled to choose their own lifestyle, whether they want to have a child or not. Some females who seek to have children find it easy, although some are unfortunate. There are numerous of reasonings, such as being too old to be pregnant, damage to the Fallopian tube or uterus and cancer radiation or chemotherapy. As our generation goes on, many discoveries revolving biology is produced and one of it is the In Vitro Fertilization or “IVF”. It is the procedure of fertilization where they save sperm sample, take an egg from the women and physically combining it in a laboratory dish where the egg and the sperm is now called an embryo.

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The prenatal diagnostics and prenatal screening being routine procedures should be considered as advantage of modern medicine. It helps to reveal wide spectrum of fetus abnormal conditions, but not only congenital defects and malformations. Early detection of many of them could help to perform surgical correction and necessary management as soon as possible in order to save newborns’ lives. On the other hand, this method is widely discussed and it has many opponents, and in some countries prenatal diagnostic procedures is not considered now as a screening method. Main ethical issues are terminations of pregnancies in case of malformations, which may be supposed as eugenical abortion, inform consent and problem of decision-making process.

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Gestational surrogacy uses in-vitro fertilization by taking the egg of the biological mother and the sperm of the biological father and placing the embryo into the uterus of another individual. Surrogacy is performed for many reasons including: same-sex marriage, damaged uterus, age, history of miscarriages and other medical conditions. Although surrogacy is the safest option for most people, it raises many legal issues. Legal issues include the following: legal parents, refusal of custody from surrogate to biological parents and surrogacy contracts. Although surrogacy is efficient and effective, it is not a reliable

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