Manipulating Reproduction - Have we gone too far?

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Manipulating Reproduction – Have we gone too far?

Manipulating reproduction has come a long way. It has created many branches from genetic engineering and many more. We have technology where we can clone whole organisms. This development has been already tested on a sheep called dolly. The nucleus from the egg, which came from dolly, was removed and placed into another empty egg with no nucleus. In the end, dolly gave birth to baby who had same genetics as her.

And also more progression has been made in genetic engineering. We can now clone tissues and we have technology to select embryo and this is the branch of genetics I will be discussing (4 + 8)

Embryo Selection

Since the discovery of DNA in the late 1950´s, the possibility of genetic
modification of animals and plants has become a reality. However is the reality of designer babies going to far?

The term ‘designer babies’ has become very popular these days. A designer baby is that which an egg from the ovaries of a mother is genetically selected because it does not contain any gene faults or any evidence that future child will have any diseases. The issue has been argued in the media for a considerable amount of time, but is time for the debate now running out or can it be justified to use PGD (Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis)? (4)

The first step to PGD is the creation of embryos outside the body by in vitro fertilisation (IVF). These embryos are cultured until they are between 6-10 cells in size so that one or two cells can be removed (cell biopsy) for genetic analysis. The removal of these cells does not appear to be detrimental to the development of the embryo. The 'sampled' embryo can then be grown a little longer in culture to let it recover from the procedures and to allow time for the genetic testing of its removed cells to take place. The advances in genetic technology may mean that the amount of material required for diagnosis in the future may be reduced. One of two techniques are then applied to the biopsy cells-fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) for chromosome disorders or - polymerise chain reaction (PCR) for single gene defects, such as Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). Embryos, which do not carry the genetic disorder, can then be transferred to the uterus in the hope that a normal pregnancy will develop (1)

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The disadvantages of designer babies are equally important as the advantages. The moral issues have to be addressed and this is the single area that has caught the public attention through the media because of the actions of the numerous campaign groups. There are many ethical and moral issues and question that have been raised like;

Should PGD be made widely available, given that there is no treatment or cure for Huntington’s chorea? Or should the results of the genetic screening be made available to that of the person relatives or to that of the persons insurance company or ...

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