Trend-setting Technology: Design your Own Baby

Imagine walking into a fertility counselor or a genetic counselor and being asked, “What color would you like your baby’s eyes to be?” or “Would you like your child to be of moderate height, or taller?” With technologies like in vitro fertilization and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, those questions are not out of the realm of possibilities. They have given rise to the concept of “designer babies” in that parents and couples in the process of having a child through in vitro fertilization may be able to do just that: design their own baby.

“The term “designer baby” refers to a baby that has been created to meet specific genetic criteria. It is not a scientific term, but one coined by the media to designate a baby “designed” to carry or not carry certain traits.”

-Gina Hagler

The Drawing Board Process

Designing a baby, if you wish to do so, is really only possible through a process called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD. Furthermore, PGD is really only possible with women or couples undergoing in vitro fertilization, or IVF. The entire process from isolating sperm and eggs to implanting the fertilized egg back into the women’s body is as follows:

• Eggs are collected from a women’s body The designer baby process.
• In a laboratory, the eggs are fertilized with sperm (either from a donor or from the woman’s male partner)
• The fertilized eggs are allowed to grow into embryos
• After 3 three days, a biopsy of the embryo may be taken in order to perform necessary or desired genetic testing (PGD)
• Only the “embryo(s) of of the best quality,” meaning the embryos that do not contain the gene that codes for the unwanted trait or disorder, are allowed to persist. Those embryos are the ones that are inserted into the uterus.

The genetic tests usually done with PGD involve either testing for a genetic disorder that can be inherited by the baby from the parents or testing to determine if the embryo’s DNA contains the right amount of chromosomes.

Limits to Designing

As of right now, those are the only types of tests that are being performed. However, as simple as it is to test for inheritable diseases, it is just as easy to look for genes that will give the baby blue eyes, or blonde hair. An article from Scientific American states that a study found that at least 10 % of a surveyed group who had genetic counseling done would have liked to have their baby tested for “tall stature” or “superior intelligence”. The article mentions that in the UK, there are rules governing in vitro fertilization/embryo manipulation. The Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority has guidelines put in place to control the amount of embryos that may be implanted and prohibits the choosing of traits other than sex of the child for necessary medical reasons. How strict this organization is, however, is not always consistent.

First Designer Baby: One of a kind, very limited edition

Adam Nash is considered to be the first designer baby/”savior sibling” to have been born in the United States. His birth did not come about after choosing of height, intelligence, or eye color, but instead, after choosing the necessary genes and traits so that he could be used as a bone marrow donor for his ailing sister. Through in vitro fertilization and PGD, Nash’s parents chose an embryo that did not contain the gene which codes for Fanconi Anemia, a rare blood disease that has the potential to lead to leukemia and malfunctioning of the body itself. Adam’s cord blood was saved when he was born, and then given to his sister. The process was successful; one life was saved due to the creation of another.

To Design or Not to Design

As it may already be evident, the entire concept of a designer baby has long been a topic of debate for obvious reasons. Is Recent poll about designer babies. choosing one embryo over another because it has the genes for blue eyes really something that should be acceptable? Or is designing and having another child solely for the sake of ailing child the ethical thing to do? These and many other questions are of constant discussion. Generally, people tend to view the designing process as positive when it comes to medical purposes, but not so much when it involves superficial or physical characteristics. I would have to agree personally, that if absolutely necessary for medicinal purposes, then genetically designing a baby would be permissible

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis

What is Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis?

Taken from UC Health. This is a picture of cells being taken from the embryo for testing.

According to American Pregnancy Association, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis, or PGD, is a procedure used prior to implantation to help identity genetic defects within embryos created through in vitro fertilization to prevent diseases or disorders from being passed on to the child.  In vitro fertilization is when an egg and sperm are combined in a laboratory dish, creating an embryo. The embryo is typically just inserted into the uterus but for PGD, it will be tested before it is possibly implanted.

In order to perform a preimplantation genetic diagnosis, one or two cells need to be removed from the embryo. These cells will be used for testing to see if there are any risks of genetic diseases. After the diagnosis has been performed, the embryos can either be implanted, frozen, or discarded.

Why chose PGD?

Most people who chose PGD are people who want to have children but believe there is a chance of their child having a life threatening or very severe disease. If these people find out their child will not have a certain disease, they can have the embryo inserted into the uterus and continue on with the healthy pregnancy. If they find out that the child has a disease, they can chose to implant a different healthy embryo, implant the one with the genetic disorder, or discard it completely.

People who are carriers of sex-linked genetic disorders, single gene disorders, or chromosomal disorders are candidates for PGD. Also, women who have multiple failed pregnancies or are older may choose this. According to Advanced Fertility Center of Chicago, the most common single gene disorders that PGD has been used for are Cystic Fibrosis, Tay-Sachs disease, Spinal Muscular atrophy, Hemophilia, and Thalassemia. Some autosomal disorders that can be tested for are adenosine Deaminase deficiency, glycogen storage disease, neurofibromatosis, APP early onset Alzheimer’s and polycystic kidney disease. There are many more diseases that we can currently test for and as technology and research increase, there will continue to be more diseases that we can perform a diagnosis for.

Benefits and Risks

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis allows parents to test their embryos for life threatening diseases before implantation. While some disagree, many people believe that being able to choose which embryo is implanted is helping their child. For example, If they know their child will have this damaging disease with a very high chance of death at an early stage, they may choose not to go through with the pregnancy because they do not want that child to suffer.

Taken from the American Pregnancy Association. The doctor is looking at the results from the preimplantation genetic diagnosis.

On the other side, preimplantation genetic diagnosis can be seen to have many more risks, or disadvantages, associated with it. With PGD, the parents can chose to discard the embryo if there are any diseases found when screening. Many people believe that life begins at conception, so destroying the embryo is unethical. With any disease, there will almost always be an environmental factor associated with it. The preimplantation genetic diagnosis does not account for any environmental factors so while the testing is definitely helpful, it might not be completely conclusive. Other factors are to be accounted for. PGD could be used for gender selections. According to The Huffington Post, the professional society said that PGD is allowed for couples seeking “gender variety” or “family balancing”. While that being saod, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine still cautions against using PGD for sex selection.