Genetically selected baby free of inherited predisposition to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease
- Ethics Unit, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Childrens Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia; spriggsm@murdoch.rch.unimelb.edu.au
- Early-onset Alzheimer disease
- pre-implantation genetic diagnosis
- in vitro fertilisation
- late-onset disorders
Is it right to use pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to select an embryo free of the gene for early-onset Alzheimer’s disease?
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 …
