Lucy

Designer Babies?

Choosing your children

The idea of 'fixing' various traits in an unborn child seems like science fiction - but in the future, GM technology may allow us to choose the characteristics our children are born with.

The idea of making permanent changes to the human genome attracts both fascination and fear. In fact, doctors are already doing this to some extent, by selecting which babies will be born on the basis of their genetics.

Choosing healthy embryos

In recent years a technique called preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) has been used to screen embryos for several different genetic conditions.

The main use is to screen for diseases including Huntingdon’s disease, cystic fibrosis and more recently Down's syndrome.

The first stage of PGD involves creating embryos by in vitro fertilisation (IVF). A cell is then removed from each of the early stage embryos to identify which ones carry the disease. Only 'good' embryos are placed in the mother’s body to develop.
Born to help another child

Recently a novel purpose has been found for PGD - to select embryos not for the sake of their own health, but to help a relative.

In 2000 in the United States, the Nash family made medical history by having a baby boy who had been selected using PGD to be a perfect tissue match for their sick older daughter who suffered from a condition called Fanconi anaemia. Donor cells from baby Adam's umbilical cord were successfully used to treat Molly.

The move was highly controversial. It was even said that it paved the way for children to be born to provide 'spare parts'. Even so, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has given the go-ahead for PGD to be used in similar circumstances in the UK. It is expected that several more children will follow Adam Nash over the next few years.
Boy or girl?
In some countries, couples desperate for a child of a particular sex can pay thousands of pounds for PGD to ensure they have a child of a particular sex. Using PGD for this purpose is not legal in the UK.