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Designer Babies: A Brief Overview

Designer Babies: A Brief Overview. By Gillian S. The Techniques. The current techinques involved in creating designer babies are Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Preimplantation Haplotyping. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis.

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Designer Babies: A Brief Overview

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  1. Designer Babies: A Brief Overview By Gillian S

  2. The Techniques • The current techinques involved in creating designer babies are Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Preimplantation Haplotyping

  3. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis • Used for sexing and the identification of diseased embryos through biopsies. • Involves such techniques as Polymerase Chain Reaction and FISH. • Can produce false negatives or false positives often to the severe detriment of the family.

  4. FISH • Also known as fluorescent in situ hybridization • A cytogenic technique • Used for sexing • Tracks genetically and sex-linked disorders. • Chromosomal abnormalities • Not very accurate often detects inflated numbers of abnormalities due to normal development

  5. Polymerase Chain Reaction • Involves the creation of more DNA to make available for testing • Problem: Minute amount of genetic material available for testing • Sensitive to contamination

  6. Preimplantation Genetic Haplotyping • More reliable and advanced than PGD • Uses DNA fingerprinting rather than a genetic signature • Allows for more tests, has a higher success rate, and increased reliability.

  7. Ethics • Cases where people use PGD and PGH to solve cosmetic disorders. • Donor Siblings • Family Planning

  8. Cosmetic Disorders • Cure squint - a non-lethal trait. Bastardization of PGD and PGH’s original purpose which was to determine sex and to prevent the inheritance of lethal conditions

  9. Donor Siblings • Case in which a family had a terminally ill son so they created a child with the same cord blood as him in an attempt to cure him • Other child could also have disease, could die • Where does society need to stop and simply let go of their children so they can die?

  10. Family Planning • Sons are more desired • Skewing of the gender ratio • Create Social Unrest • Should not be allowed simply to “balance the family”

  11. The Answer • Processes need to be refined to efficaciously create techniques that would eliminate lethal disorders • Designing children that do not have the potential to inherit a life threatening disorder is decidedly unethical and will simply result in social unrest.

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