DESIGNER BABIES

DESIGNER BABIES

 "Designer babies" is a term used by journalists and commentators - not by scientists - to describe several different reproductive technologies. These technologies have one thing in common: they give parents more control over what their offspring will be like.

DESIGNER BABIES

FOR WHOM ???

•For infertile couples

•For children likely to have genetic disorders

•For homosexual couples

•To treat an ill siblings

DESIGNER BABIES

Advanced reproductive technologies allow parents and doctors to screen embryos for genetic disorders and select healthy embryos.

•Advanced Reproductive Tech.

•Cell and Chromosome Manipulation

•Genetics and Genome

Techniques for Designer Babies

•IVF

•PGD [Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis]

•Screening Embryos For HIGH-RISK DISEASES

•Screening Embryos For UNKNOWN DISEASES

•Selecting the SEX Of a Baby

IVF
(In-Vitro Fertilization)

•Advanced reproductive techniques

• fertilise eggs with sperm in 'test-tubes' outside the mother's body in a laboratory

•Choosing the type of sperms that will fertilize an egg : to determine the sex & genes of the baby

•back

PGD
(Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis)

•Screens embryos for a genetic disease : only selected embryos r implanted back into mother’s womb.

•Takes place during IVF where sperm fertilizes the egg

•The fertilizes egg grows for few days

•A single cell is removed & tested to find out sex or any abnormal genes

•Reduces the chance of child being born with a genetic disorder

•Eg :- couples suffering from thalessemia , haemophilia , muscular dystrophy , cystic fibrosis etc…

•Can be detected in early pregnancy

Factors involved …

•Genetic constitution of parents

•Constitution of sperm & egg

•Health & behavior of impregnated mother

•Complexity of genome

•Cost

•Over extended period of time

•Knowledge of human genome help to change the genes

•Faulty section of DNA can be replaced by healthy DNA

–Homologous recombination

–Site directed mutagenesis

•Then it is been checked by PGD.

•Coupes decide whether

To continue with that

Embryo or discard it.

•Human Embryo Bank

•5 healthy babies have been born to provide stem cells for siblings with serious non-heritable conditions. This is the first time "saviour siblings" have been created to treat children whose condition is not genetic,

•Eg :- leukaemia

–Reproductive genetics institute , Chicago

•Eg :- Fanconi’s anemia

–An inherited bone marrow deficiency

•Rare success

FUTURE ???

MORALITY

•We are able to design disease free babies

• To save the ill siblings

• Reproduction will always have an element of unpredictability.

REFERENCES

•Journal of the American Medical Association (vol 291, p 2079

•www.wikipedia.org

•   http://www.mun.ivf.html

•   http://en.wikipedia.org

•   http://homeusers.rcn.com

•   http://library.thickquest.org

•   www.pubmed.com

•   www.invitrofertilization.com