CURRENT CONTROVERSY

Genetically selected baby free of inherited predisposition to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease

M Spriggs

Ethics Unit, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Childrens Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia; spriggsm@murdoch.rch.unimelb.edu.au

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Is it right to use pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to select an embryo free of the gene for early-onset Alzheimer’s disease?

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Keywords: Early-onset Alzheimer disease; pre-implantation genetic diagnosis; in vitro fertilisation; late-onset disorders

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

A 30 year old woman with the gene for early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, who seems certain to develop the disease by the time she is 40, has used IVF and preimplantation genetic diagnosis to select an embryo that is free of the mutant gene. The woman, a geneticist, has given birth to a mutation-free child. This marks the first time that preimplantation genetic diagnosis has been used to "weed out" an embryo with the defect.^1–3

Early-onset Alzheimer’s is an inherited, incurable disease striking people in their 30s and 40s. The woman’s sister developed the disease at 38 and has been placed in care. Their father was suffering from memory problems when he died at 42 and a brother who also carries the gene had short term memory problems at 35.^1,4

Critics of preimplantation genetic diagnosis think there is something morally unacceptable about selecting and rejecting embryos by genetic preference. And the . . . [Full text of this article]

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• Delatycki, M B (2003). Commentary on Spriggs: genetically selected baby free of inherited predisposition to early onset Alzheimer's disease. J. Med. Ethics 29: 120-120 [Full Text]