Hundreds of couples are benefitting from the recent advances in molecular genetics and assisted reproductive technology. One of the recent and prominent techniques used is the pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). This technique enables physicians to identify genetic diseases in the embryo, prior to implantation, before the pregnancy is established. Thus, PGD encourages couples to have their biological babies despite having serious genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis, Tay Sachs disease, Lesch Nyhan syndrome, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and other diseases carried on the X chromosome. Consider a woman being a carrier of chromosome rearrangement which will cause chances for her child to have chromosome abnormalities. There is chance that her babies will have severe mental and physical disabilities that will usually lead to miscarriage or death of baby not long after birth. With PGD, embryos are diagnosed three days after its fertilization by removing single cells from each embryo. The selected DNA sequence of interest from these single cells is then amplified using the PCR technique to be analysed for genetic disease. When a healthy embryo is identified, it will then be implanted back in the woman’s uterus.
PGD also helps to increase fertility rate in older women. One of the reasons older women have a poorer pregnancy rate is because their embryos are often chromosomally abnormal. With PGD technology, physicians can select embryos that are chromosomally normal and then transfer the healthy embryo to the women’s uterus. Thus, lowering miscarriages and birth defects for older mums. While PGD represents the cutting edge of reproductive technology, and gives us an idea of what may be possible for the future, it also raises a number of worries and concerns. One of it is PGD might become a child sex-selection tool that can lead to the imbalance of sex ratio of the world.
Reference:
http://www.infertilitybooks.com/onlinebooks/malpani/chapter26.html
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124438.php
Reference:
http://www.infertilitybooks.com/onlinebooks/malpani/chapter26.html
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124438.php
