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Embryo screening should be mandatory
Over at Opposing Views, bioethicist Jacob Appel argues that pre-implantation genetic screening for severe disease mutations should be compulsory for parents undergoing IVF. Appell dodges one obvious...
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Predicting eye colour from genes
Fan Liu, Kate van Duijn, Johannes R. Vingerling, Albert Hofman, André G. Uitterlinden, A. Cecile J.W. Janssens, Manfred Kayser (2009). Eye color and the prediction of complex phenotypes from genotypes...
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Allowing children to be born with severe disease is morally equivalent to...
A couple of weeks ago I pointed to an article by bioethicist Jacob Appel arguing that genetic screening for severe disease mutations should be mandatory for parents undergoing IVF, and that not doing...
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Arguments against routine screening for severe disease genes; food for thought
Yesterday I pointed to an article by New Scientist editor Michael Le Page advocating routine carrier testing for severe disease genes in parents-to-be, followed by IVF and pre-implantation genetic...
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Girl with genetic disorder sues sperm bank for providing defective sperm
New Scientist reports that a 13-year-old girl with Fragile X Syndrome – a severe genetic disorder – is suing the sperm bank that provided the sperm that led to her conception. Curiously, the legal...
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Sperm as a defective product: more details
There are a couple of things I didn’t explain very well in my previous post about the strange case of the 13-year-old girl suing a sperm bank using product liability law, on the grounds that the sperm...
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Germany to ban DTC genetic testing, non-medical embryo screening
Associated Press reports that Germany will likely soon pass regressive laws limiting the use of genetic testing: The German parliament approved legislation Friday limiting the use of genetic testing in...
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Sequenom reveals prenatal Down syndrome test data are “questionable”
For those who have been too distracted by swine flu to notice: shares of the biotech company Sequenom have plummeted by 77% after the company announced that the extremely promising initial results for...
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Personal genomics is getting serious: Counsyl emerging from stealth mode
Disclaimer: my wife and I have both received and used free testing kits from Counsyl. Counsyl is a rather enigmatic player in the personal genomics field: apart from a brief mention in Steven Pinker’s...
View ArticleOne more step towards the end of recessive diseases
In the last century infant mortality has declined precipitously in the Western world, thanks in large part to the development of antibiotics and vaccination. Yet as the suffering and death from...
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