What is the controversy surrounding the first designer baby in the UK?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the controversy regarding the first designer baby conceived in the UK using genetic screening to avoid inherited cancer. It explores the implications of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and the ethical considerations surrounding the technology.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant highlights that a British woman has conceived a designer baby to avoid retinoblastoma, raising ethical concerns about the use of PGD and the destruction of embryos.
  • Another participant references the film GATTACA, suggesting that society is approaching a reality similar to the genetic selection depicted in the movie.
  • A different participant questions the novelty of the case, noting that fertility clinics have been screening for inherited diseases for decades, implying that the term "first" may be misleading.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the implications and ethics of designer babies, with no consensus reached on the acceptability of PGD or the characterization of the case as the "first" of its kind.

Contextual Notes

There are unresolved questions regarding the ethical implications of embryo selection and the definitions of what constitutes a designer baby, as well as the historical context of genetic screening practices.

marcus
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First "Designer Baby" in UK

===quote===
May 13, 2006

A British woman has become the first in the country to conceive a "designer baby" selected specifically to avoid an inherited cancer, The Times said Saturday.

The woman, who was not identified, used controversial genetic screening technology to ensure she does not pass on to her child the condition retinoblastoma, an hereditary form of eye cancer from which she suffers.

Doctors tested embryos created by the woman and her partner using in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) methods for the cancer gene. Only unaffected embryos were implanted in her womb, the newspaper said.

It suggested the woman's pregnancy would increase controversy over the procedure -- pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) -- because critics say it involves destroying otherwise healthy embryos whose conditions are treatable...
==endquote==

http://www.physorg.com/news66717645.html
 
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Hmm... Ever seen that movie GATTACA with Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman? We are getting eerily close to that kind of technology.
 
hmmmm

could you possibly be a misfit in Our society? :bugeye:
 
Gattaca
Ctaatgt

Follow the white rabbit
 
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"First"? Haven't fertility clinics been screening eggs and/or sperm for things like cycle-cell trait and other inheritted diseases for decades, now?

http://www.integramed.com/inmdweb/content/cons/preimplan.jsp
 
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