Aneuploidy
Aneuploidy is when there is either an extra or missing chromosome in a cell. If this was the case, it would lead to a genetic disease such as Down syndrome. This is when PGS is necessary where the embryo is screened for any Aneuploidy and the ones that have the correct number of chromosomes are implanted into the mother’s womb.
The screening for Aneuploidy involves ‘Fluorescence in situ hybridization’. This is when chromosomes are identified by utilizing fluorescent probes which are especially made for chromosomes. This allows the chromosomes to be viewed under a microscope where it can be then checked for any abnormalities.
The chances of a woman to give birth to a child with a chromosomal abnormality will be higher if the mother is older than 35.
- 30 years is 1 in 385
- 35 years is 1 in 179
- 40 years is 1 in 63
- 45 years is 1 in 19
This is said, the number of Aneuploidy in embryos are much are than the number of babies born with Aneuploidy conditions. The reason for this is because a birth with Aneuploidy is less likely to occur because it is less likely for it to attach to the uterus. Therefore, there is a higher chance of a miscarriage decreasing the number of births with the disease.
This graph is proof showing that the percentage of abnormal eggs is increasing as the age of the mother increases. At the age of 37, the percentage of an abnormal baby is 40%. Only another three more years is needed for that percentage to be increased to 50.
Having said all of this, the reason why I want PGS to be available to anyone is because if by chance a baby is born with a genetic abnormality such as Aneuploidy, it is highly unlikely that the baby will survive birth. The outcome of this is that the parents will be highly affected by it. The mother especially may encounter emotional issues with a tragic loss of a miscarriage. We need to put a stop to this.
The procedure of both IVF and PGS
- The woman takes drugs in order to stimulate the production of eggs
- Once the egg has grown, they are collected by a fertility doctor
- The man produces a sperm sample; this is sent to the fertility doctor. The doctor places the sperm with the egg inside a Petri dish for it to fertilise
- Once the egg is developed into an embryo, it is tested for any disease causing alleles. Once an embryo without and faults are identified, the doctor implants it into the mothers uterus.
Sex selection
Sex selection is when you have the control of being able to choose the gender of the offspring using embryo selection.
There are many reasons why people go through with sex selection. The death of a child is a very unfortunate thing that many parents have to suffer from. Some parents may have lost a child at a young age; sex selection comes in where the couple has the choice of having another baby of the same gender of the one that died.
Another reason why parents may want to use sex selection may be to have a balanced family. Couples that already have a child may want to have another child of a different sex so that there is a balance in gender within the family. This is a popular reason between couples.
The process of Sex selection
- It involves the process of IVF- In-vitro fertilisation.
- Once the egg is fertilised, a single cell is removed from each embryo. (Male and Female)
- After the gender of all the embryos is determined, the embryo of the gender that the couple chose are taken and then implanted into the mother.
Arguments FOR Sex Selection being legalised
Back in March 2005, there was a radical report by the UK parliament's committee on science and technology backed the regime for sex selection to be legalised, as seen in the following extract :
“The controversial document makes many other bold suggestions on human reproductive technologies. It does not rule out human reproductive cloning in the future; it backs the use of human-animal hybrid embryos for research; and it challenges the UK government's intention to strip the anonymity from future sperm and egg donors.
"It's a very liberal and far-thinking report - that is what has caused the controversy," says Peter Braude, chairman of the science committee of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and a former member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the UK's regulatory body.
The report makes "bold and challenging" recommendations, says Suzi Leather, chair of the HFEA. But she adds: "The acid test for this report will be how well it deals with the public's concerns."
Pro-life groups hit out at the report - endorsed by just half of the 10-member committee of MPs. "There is absolutely no way that the public in the UK is in favour of designer babies, social sex selection, animal-human hybrids, human reproductive cloning, or any other Brave New World proposal," says Josephine Quintavalle of Comment of Reproductive Ethics.”
(Source : New Scientist.com , 24 March 2005 by Shaoni Bhattacharya)
Arguments FOR PGS being available free to anybody
Currently, it is illegal in the U.K for sex selection to take place due to ethical and social reasons. One of them is that it could lead to an un-balanced population if there is a high amount of babies born of the same gender.
Here are some statistics that I found out of Germany and the U.K
In Germany
- 58% was not bothered by the gender of their children
- 30% said they wanted an even number of boys and girls
- 4% said they want more boys than girls
- 3% said they would like more girls than boys
In the United Kingdom
- 16% said that the gender of their children didn’t bother them
- 68% said that they wanted an even number of girls and boys
- 6% would like more boys than girls
- 4% would like more girls than boys
Looking at this data, it suggests that Sex selection is not very much needed in Germany. The reason why I say this is because only 42% of people said that it did whereas 58% said that it didn’t. In the United Kingdom on the other hand, it would seem that it is needed a lot more looking at public statistics. 84% of people said that the gender of their children mattered to them. That leaves only 16% of people that don’t which is a massive difference. As there are a high proportion of people that are ‘for’ the service, I think that people have the right to be able to choose. Considering the fact that it is the couple’s baby and nobody else’s, the parents should have the right to be able to consider Sex selection as an option for them if they needed it to. There is the counter-argument by the British government that if the service was to be legalised, the population of male to female may become unbalanced. However, this is unlikely. The reason being is that there is only a 2% difference of people that would prefer boys to girls as the child, meaning that the difference of males to females in the U.K would be very minimal. In Germany, it would be even less of a problem because the difference of preference between boys and girls is on 1%.
PGS can be used to screen embryos that may carry genetic diseases such as Aneuploidy and Cystic Fibrosis. Using PGS can sufficiently reduce the chances of that happening and other serious diseases such as cancer which is currently un-curable.
The following paragraph is of a newspaper article informing the advances of embryonic screening.
“PGD can currently detect around 200 inherited defects such as Huntington’s and the most common of all, Cystic Fibrosis. The new step in embryo screening is called PGH, pre-implantation genetic haemophilia. This new technique can detect thousands of other heritable problems. Many of which are too rare to be identified currently. At present screening for these ‘X-linked’ disorders involves selecting only female embryos, but it will now be possible to look directly for these genetic errors that are responsible and use normal male embryos as well.”
(Source : The Guardian, 15Th November 2007 by Neil Armitage)
The article prove that as well as PGS being able to help detect around 200 diseases, it can also detect the carriers of the faulty gene.
Dr Simon Fishel and his fertility team at Nottingham based care fertility have treated 6 patients costing them around £7000. Half of this was funded by the NHS but most couple needed 1-3 courses costing them around £20,000. This may seem like a hell of a lot of money, but it saves ever so much more in the long-term. To look after a disabled child it could cost the parents around £1-2 million.
Evaluation
As you can see, my argument on whether Pre-Implantation Genetic Screening should be free for anyone to use is strongly supported by facts and opinions of senior medical professionals. It has many advantages, such as reducing the number of children born with inherited diseases, detecting carriers of the faulty gene, helping population control and decreasing the number of heartbroken parents dealing with the death of their newborn child, just to name a few. However, it will probably be a few decades till a strong rule, which is agreed by everyone, is passed down on this issue. Although PGS has been incorporated into the care of patients undergoing IVF treatment, its indications, utility, and outcomes remain an active area of research in reproductive medicine. As preimplantation screening for medical disorders at the embryonic level optimises, its place in medicine and society will continue to generate great controversy and ethical debate.
by
brownboy20 (student)
