Screening for Genetic Disorders

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  • Screening for Genetic Disorders
    • Screening Embryos
      • First need to harvest cells from developing embryo/foetus
        • 2 main ways it can be done
          • Amniocentesis - carried out at 15-16 weeks of pregnancy & involves taking some fluid from around developing foetus which contains foetal cells used for gentic screening
          • Chronic Villus Sampling - done between 10 & 12 weeks and involves taking small sample of tissue from developing placenta which contains foetal cells for screening
          • Both tests have associated risk of causing miscarriage
      • New methods depend on analysisng foetal cells found in mam's blood
        • Promise less invasive testing in future
      • Anotehr alternative is for embryos produced through IVF to be screened before being implanted in the mam so only babies without the disorder are born
    • Carrying Out Screening
      • If screening shows the child is affected the parents have a choice
        • Keep baby
        • Not have the implantation
        • Get abortion
    • Concerns About Embryo Screening
      • Risks of miscarriage even to healthy babies
      • More reliable and accurate but still give false positives/negatives
        • Can result in termination of healty baby or birth of a child with unexpected genetic disorder
      • People have to make decisions on whether or not to keep their baby
        • Might not be totally affected by scientific facts
          • Could be affected by ethics or feelings
      • Screening is expensive and at the moment can only be offered to people with family history of genetic disorders
        • More children at ris of being born with gentic disorders
        • Some believe everyone should be tested because genetic diseases cost too much to treat
      • Could lead to demand for designer babies
        • Untitled
  • If screening shows the child is affected the parents have a choice
    • Keep baby
    • Not have the implantation
    • Get abortion

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