Artificial insemination, embryo transplantation and in vitro fertilization are all techniques used extensively in selective breeding of agricultural and domestic animals.Discuss the ethical and social considerations for their application to humans.

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Artificial insemination, embryo transplantation and in vitro fertilization are all techniques used extensively in selective breeding of agricultural and domestic animals.

Discuss the ethical and social considerations for their application to humans.

Artificial insemination (AI), embryo transplantation and in vitro fertilization (IVF) used in selective breeding of agricultural and domestic animals all have obvious economic advantages. AI allows decreased costs, as the male animal doesn’t need to be kept, and transporting costs are decreased. Profits increase as so-called ‘prize animals’ can be used to produce high quality offspring and sperm can be screened for genetic defects. AI also allows animals such as pandas who are close to extinction to reproduce in captivity. This is particularly useful, as pandas have no interest in sex. AI involves placing semen into a female’s vagina or directly into the uterus, by means of a catheter. IVF allows otherwise infertile couples to reproduce, as fertilization occurs in a dish in a laboratory, where oocytes are collected from the female and mixed with a sample of semen. The fertilized egg undergoes mitosis and the resulting early embryo in transferred to the uterus of the genetic mother, or of a surrogate mother (embryo transplantation.) An important factor when considering these techniques applied to humans is that humans have an individual choice as to whether they wish to undergo these techniques. This differs from their use in animals as they are denied their natural instincts and behaviour.

Therefore despite the advantages of the above mentioned techniques for animal breeders, applications of these to humans raise many ethical and social considerations. Techniques such as these allow couples that are having problems conceiving to have children, thus bringing great happiness and contentment to them. In addition to these types of couples, artificial insemination also allows single women, such as those who have lost a husband/partner to reproduce. However moral and social concerns are raised when women without a male partner who choose to be single or lesbian couples wish to have children by AID, because some members of society view this as morally unacceptable. They believe children born into single parent families or to lesbian couples are disadvantaged as they will not receive a suitable “morally right” upbringing.

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AI requires sperm to be donated, either from the husband of the woman to be inseminated (AIH) or from a donor (AID) A problem with AID is that a donor can not be used too often as an unknown genetic defect would increase in allele frequency within a population and also using the same donor too often results in a decrease in the gene pool. Donors may be required to take tests for infections such as HIV, and as more genetic tests become available donors may be put under unreasonable pressure to take these tests too. Another important ethical ...

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