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Ethical Issues In Genetic Engineering Essay

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Genetic Engineering has been progressing at a rapid rate. With the advancement of Genetic Engineering, genetic profiling can now be also done on embryos prior to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to screen for potential genetic problems that the infant might face in future using a process called ‘Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD)’. Currently, scientists have already identified genetic markers for diabetes, Huntington disease and potentially thousands of others. This PGD process will significantly lower the risk of newborns inheriting a genetic disorder from their parents. In recent years, the first step towards “designer babies” has been taken with the introduction of gender selection in PGD. In Singapore, the first successful PGD occurred in 2009, while …show more content…

Ethical • PGD Process costs around $10,000 and hence may be only for the rich. • People may be playing god if choosing of desirable traits are permitted. • Will the advancement of PGD cause people to be judged based on their genomics instead of the individual character? Before bringing our discussion further, it is first important to identify the factual, ethical and conceptual issues regarding the use of PGD. Table 7: Factual, Conceptual & Ethical Issues 4.3 Ethical Issues for utilizing PGD There is an increased prevalence and knowledge about the use of PGD amongst Singaporeans. However, along with it comes a growing ethical concern about the extension of the application of PGD to screen and tweak the genetic information of embryos for enhanced, non-medical traits such as gender, height and intelligence (wholly termed as ‘designer babies’). Hence, it is imperative to discuss on the various ethical issues regarding PGD used for diagnosing genetic diseases and gender selection. Actions Party Ethics PGD for patients with high risk of serious hereditary diseases Bio-engineers and Doctors / Biomedical Engineering

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