{"id":262267,"date":"2022-02-10T18:46:47","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T00:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=262267"},"modified":"2022-02-09T23:50:26","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T05:50:26","slug":"embryos-genetic-unethical-rubbish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/embryos-genetic-unethical-rubbish\/","title":{"rendered":"Critics say predicting embryos’ genetic futures is ‘unethical’ and ‘rubbish’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

They used to be called \u201cdesigner babies\u201d until the negative connotation created too much fuss. But the idea of creating the \u201cperfect\u201d baby by genetically tampering with embryos, ensuring they won\u2019t have problems later in life due to disease or intellectual disability, is still a desire for some \u2014 and they are willing to pay good money to get it.<\/p>\n

In reality, this is a new twist on eugenics that critics say is ineffective as well as unethical.<\/p>\n

The quest for an ideal baby is aided by something called polygenic risk scores (PRS), used by groups like\u00a0Genomic Prediction<\/a>\u00a0Clinical Laboratory, who pioneered LifeView, an \u201cadvanced genetic testing platform for embryos for in vitro fertilization (IVF).” Genomic Prediction states, “We help couples have the healthiest child possible, protecting your baby from genetic risks that run in your family. We bring IVF into the information age.\u201d But a recent article in the European Journal of Human Genetics<\/a>\u00a0(EJHG), asserts that this practice is \u201cunethical\u201d and \u201cunproven.\u201d<\/p>\n

The use of these polygenic risk scores (PRS) raise many concerns in the scientific field. An article in Bioedge<\/a> said the idea that PRS scores can predict conditions<\/a> including both types of diabetes, cancers (breast, testicular, prostate, malignant melanoma, and basal cell carcinoma), coronary artery disease, heart attacks, and mental illnesses such as schizophrenia may actually be \u201crubbish.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ: \u2018No valid rationale\u2019: Scientists create monkey-human hybrid embryos<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The article in the EJHG says, \u201cComplex traits are determined by a combination of genes and environment, and PRSs can only capture a part of the genetic component \u2013 that which is derived from the cumulative effects of many genetic variants of small individual effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

The piece explains that in order for the \u201crisks to be calculated as accurately as possible, PRSs should be combined with the effects of non-genetic factors from an individual\u2019s life history such as environment, nutrition, and physical activity.\u201d Of course, other factors would also play into any \u201cscores\u201d one might generate, which would include, as the EJHG says, \u201cchanges in lifestyle and clinical risk factors throughout an individual\u2019s life, and these interactions may be difficult to account for when calculating the PRS.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile PRS may identify individuals at risk of a given disease in the general population (where the genetic variability is very wide) there is no evidence that they can be useful for a couple in determining the choice of one embryo over another, as the genetic variability within an individual family is limited,\u201d says Dr Francesca Forzano<\/a>\u00a0of the European Society of Human Genetics.<\/p>\n

The EJHG article concludes, \u201cCurrently, PRS assessments capture only a fraction of the total estimated heritable component of a trait, partly because they are determined using only a limited number of polymorphic variants in certain genes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They used to be called \u201cdesigner babies\u201d until the negative connotation created too much fuss. But the idea of creating the \u201cperfect\u201d baby by genetically tampering with embryos, ensuring they won\u2019t have problems later in life due to disease or intellectual disability, is still a desire for some \u2014 and they are willing to pay […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":827,"featured_media":243511,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[15,3473],"tags":[15699,15701,15700,15702,15703,15698],"yoast_head":"\nCritics say predicting embryos' genetic futures is 'unethical' and 'rubbish'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Embryos are often subjected to genetic testing, but a new company is claiming to be able to predict their genetic futures - and is being criticized for it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/embryos-genetic-unethical-rubbish\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Critics say predicting embryos' genetic futures is 'unethical' and 'rubbish'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Embryos are often subjected to genetic testing, but a new company is claiming to be able to predict their genetic futures - and is being criticized for it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/embryos-genetic-unethical-rubbish\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-11T00:46:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-10T05:50:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/GettyImages-1148114092-cell-embryo-IVF.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"653\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Catherine Livingston, PhD\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Catherine Livingston, PhD\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/embryos-genetic-unethical-rubbish\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/embryos-genetic-unethical-rubbish\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Catherine Livingston, PhD\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e546e5fbb46d771bbe66c0ab7690156c\"},\"headline\":\"Critics say predicting embryos’ genetic futures is ‘unethical’ and ‘rubbish’\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-11T00:46:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-10T05:50:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/embryos-genetic-unethical-rubbish\/\"},\"wordCount\":482,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Dr. Francesca Forzano\",\"European Journal of Human Genetics\",\"European Society of Human Genetics\",\"Genomic Prediction Clinical Laboratory\",\"LifeView\",\"polygenic risk scores\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Analysis\",\"Newsbreak\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/embryos-genetic-unethical-rubbish\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/embryos-genetic-unethical-rubbish\/\",\"name\":\"Critics say predicting embryos' genetic futures is 'unethical' and 'rubbish'\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-11T00:46:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-10T05:50:26+00:00\",\"description\":\"Embryos are often subjected to genetic testing, but a new company is claiming to be able to predict their genetic futures - 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