More embryo screening news from Britain:
British scientists announced today an advanced screening test for embryos, using a form of DNA fingerprinting, which could help prevent couples passing inherited disorders such as cystic fibrosis on to their children.Developed at Guy's hospital in London and unveiled at a conference on fertility in Prague, the technique is similar to the genetic fingerprinting used by police to identify suspects.
The technique, called pre-implantation genetic haplotyping, or PGH, will assist couples at high risk of passing on serious illnesses to their children by ensuring that only healthy embryos are used for in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).The embryos at risk of developing a disease are not treated or cured. They are deemed genetically "defective" and killed.
Josephine Quintavalle, of the group Reproductive Ethics, commented, "I am horrified to think of these people sitting in judgment and deciding which embryos should live and which should die. The goalposts are already getting wider and wider."
While the goalposts may be wider, the criteria for what constitutes a person worthy of life continues to become narrower. At one time it was commonly accepted that the value of human life was God given and independent of the individuals health status. Now, individuals are terminated simply for having a greater risk for developing cancer later in life or being the wrong gender ... check out the reports here.
