Couples at high risk for genetic disorders would prefer to have pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) rather than risk terminating a pregnancy later, a study from Fertility and Sterility Journal showed.
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is performed after in-vitro fertilization where an embryo is tested for mutations that can lead to genetic defects, before being implanted into the uterus. Obviously, PGD reduces the need for prenatal genetic testing in the middle of a pregnancy, and avoid having to choose between terminating or continuing on with the pregnancy.
The study showed that among 210 Dutch couples with genetic disorders, 60% would …read more

I was just reading about how prenatal screening can eradicate genetic disease (and reported it too) when I read another article that casts doubt on the entire procedure of pre-implantation genetic diasnosis (PGD).
Used with in vitro fertilization, PGD is a biopsy of the developing embryos to look for signs of abnormalities. Obviously, only normal embryos are then implanted into a woman’s uterus to ensure that no abnormality will be present in the child.
However, new studies on mice suggested that PGD can affect fetal, neonatal and adult development. The scientists found that biopsied embryos implanted after PGD result …read more

Will a new prenatal genetic test create designer babies? That’s one of the questions raised as news that a universal embryo test could be available next year.
The current method for prenatal genetic testing involves either amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS) to get embryo fluids or placenta cells from a pregnant woman’s abdomen. The placenta or placental fluids contain cells generated by the fetus. These cells are used to identify chromosomal abnormalities that can affect a baby’s survival or capacity at birth. Prenatal genetic tests are mainly used to provide information to the parents about their unborn child’s …read more

The first of the world’s “designer babies” have been born, and the baby girl is selected to be free of a genetic risk of breast cancer, the  Times reports.
The girl was born after embryos were screened to exclude the faulty BRCA1 gene. All the father’s female relatives had developed breast cancer caused by BRCA1. The program is run by the University College Hospital in London.

Genetic screening of fetus for serious genetic condition is part of the maternal health care and highly recommended for pregnant women over 35. However, only genetic risks of Huntington’s disease, cystic fibrosis and …read more

Malnourishment in a pregnant woman has a lasting effect on her child’s DNA. This was the implications of a new study on children born during the famine of World War II.
Scientists studied the DNA of children who were born to women starved during the 1944 Hunger Winter in the Netherlands. They analyzed a gene called insulin-like growth factor 2 or IGF2, an important growth hormone. Methyl groups that attach to IGF2 very early in fetal development determine how much of the growth hormone is made later, and protect the DNA from damage.
The scientists found that those children (now …read more

This second article originating from G&H’s exclusive interview with Navigenics’ Medical Director Dr Michael Nierenberg takes a look at the service you will receive if you subscribe to Navigenics’ genomic wellness service.
The Navigenics service 
When you sign up to the Navigenics service you effectively enrol as a member and not as a patient or customer.   For US$2,500 you subscribe to an annual package which includes a genomic scan to identify your lifetime risk (compared to an average American male or female) of developing 18 core, treatable diseases such as heart disease, Alzheimer’s and type II diabetes.  Included in the package is on-line …read more

 
Scientists from Newcastle University, UK led by Professor Patrick Chinnery, have created an embryo with three separate parents.  The team believe the technique could help to eradicate a whole class of hereditary diseases, including some forms of epilepsy and ensure women with genetic defects do not pass the diseases on to their children.
Ten severely deformed embryos, left over from traditional fertility treatment were created using DNA from a man and two women in lab tests. Within hours of their creation, the nucleus, containing DNA from the mother and father, was removed from the embryo, and implanted into a donor egg whose DNA had …read more

In Joan Rothschild’s The Dream of the Perfect Child, she looks at how prenatal testing has changed the way families experience pregnancy and public perception of disability. About three decades ago, ultrasound, amniocentesis, and other prenatal tests became a routine part of a pregnant woman’s prenatal care. Since then, parents have agonized before, during, and after the tests.

Today, we argue, women have “choice.” They need not give birth to a child with Down syndrome. Women can choose prenatal diagnosis and terminate the pregnancy if the tests are positive. But fear still motivates. Attitudes toward children with Down syndrome or other …read more

To what do we owe our children and to ourselves as parents? Do we have the right to demand perfection in both talents and health?
One way to ensure that we have “better” children is to train them once they’re born. Another way would be to manipulate their cells in utero or even at the point of conception using preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to identify then discard embryos that have defective genes. Or, perhaps genetic engineering could be used to correct or alter DNA.
Technology Review interviewed University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Vardit Ravitsky about the ethical issues surrounding PGD. Here’s an …read more

Yes, I’m slacking before the holidays (although I did make it over 1,000 posts yesterday). Thank goodness my friend Doris sent me this link to the audio recording of NPR’s All Things Considered.

Many Clinics Use Genetic Diagnosis to Choose Sex by Lonny Shavelson
Some doctors analyze an embryo’s DNA so parents can choose to have a male or female placed in the womb. Last year, a survey found that 1 of every 11 Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis treatment was for sex-selection alone. The study by Johns Hopkins University also found that 42 percent of clinics offering PGD offer it for sex selection.

The …read more