In this day and age, it is possible to prevent deadly diseases that a person is predisposed to before they are even born. This process is called preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a screening test used to determine if genetic or chromosomal abnormalities are present in an embryo created through in-vitro fertilization. In-vitro fertilization literally means fertilization “in glass,” but in actuality, simply occurs in laboratory receptacles. This combined process, developed in the early 1990s, originally intended to help families at high risks for sex-linked diseases or with a history of miscarriages. When it was first developed, PGD could only determine the sex of the embryo early on, but today it
…show more content…
Some think that it is unethical to choose children’s traits. Often times, choosing a child’s traits is preventing them from getting a certain disease. For example, if a child is predisposed to have medullary cystic disease, which is linked to blonde or red hair, the parents could choose an embryo with the genetics to have brown hair to reduce the risk. It is also a concern that people could be creating multiple babies just to pick the most desirable and discard the rest (Preimplantation genetic diagnosis: PGD). Preimplantation genetic diagnosis is actually preventing abortions of a more developed baby. Often parents abort pregnancies when they find out their baby has a detrimental disease or disability (Hughes). Cancer is one of the top three causes of death in the United States. Many types of cancers are genetic, such as the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes for breast cancer (Robertson). Preimplantation genetic diagnosis can help to prevent many of these possible offspring from having to suffer through chemotherapy and loom near death. The CBS television show Sunday Morning did a story on pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and all of the families interviewed were glad that they went through pre-implantation genetic
Some think that it is unethical to choose children’s traits. Often times, choosing a child’s traits is preventing them from getting a certain disease. For example, if a child is predisposed to have medullary cystic disease, which is linked to blonde or red hair, the parents could choose an embryo with the genetics to have brown hair to reduce the risk. It is also a concern that people could be creating multiple babies just to pick the most desirable and discard the rest (Preimplantation genetic diagnosis: PGD). Preimplantation genetic diagnosis is actually preventing abortions of a more developed baby. Often parents abort pregnancies when they find out their baby has a detrimental disease or disability (Hughes). Cancer is one of the top three causes of death in the United States. Many types of cancers are genetic, such as the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes for breast cancer (Robertson). Preimplantation genetic diagnosis can help to prevent many of these possible offspring from having to suffer through chemotherapy and loom near death. The CBS television show Sunday Morning did a story on pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and all of the families interviewed were glad that they went through pre-implantation genetic