https://padlet.com/bculp01/ipadom0qnrs8gyj5 en-us 2022-09-29 09:05:43 UTC 2022-11-08 09:10:00 UTC hello@padlet.com bculp01 https://padlet.com/bculp01/ipadom0qnrs8gyj5/wish/2319035416 The 1970s saw the development of in verto fertilisation (IVF), in which partners struggling to fall pregnant could be assisted through efforts of combining the woman’s egg and man’s sperm in a petri dish in a lab (ASRM, 2015). A key actor in this medical advancement was Dr Jeff Steinberg. The development of this procedure was met with large opposition, but when the first “test tube baby” was born in 1978 and was healthy, the process of IVF was introduced as an increasingly credible procedure. ]]> 2022-09-29 09:08:00 UTC https://padlet.com/bculp01/ipadom0qnrs8gyj5/wish/2319035416 bculp01 https://padlet.com/bculp01/ipadom0qnrs8gyj5/wish/2319037604 As the IVF process had become more normalised globally, the 1990s saw then the idea of being able to detect embryos that contained disease or a genetic disorder. This detection of disease or disorder could be made before pregnancy had occurred and would offer the chance of the parents to choose the healthiest embryo to continue pregnancy with. Scientist Dr Mark Hughes was the pioneer of this research and procedure called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). ]]> 2022-09-29 09:09:28 UTC https://padlet.com/bculp01/ipadom0qnrs8gyj5/wish/2319037604 bculp01 https://padlet.com/bculp01/ipadom0qnrs8gyj5/wish/2319039477 In August 2000, Adam Nash was born; the first ‘designer baby’. Adam’s parents became involved with the PGD process due to their older daughter having a disorder called Fanconi anaemia, in which a biological donor was required for stem cell therapy, so she was able to stay alive (ZME Science, 2022). As an embryo, Adam was screened to ensure that he too didn’t have the disease, so he could then be used to help his sister. Adam was then considered the world’s first ‘designer baby’. PGD is currently only legal in some countries, like the US.]]> 2022-09-29 09:11:00 UTC https://padlet.com/bculp01/ipadom0qnrs8gyj5/wish/2319039477 bculp01 https://padlet.com/bculp01/ipadom0qnrs8gyj5/wish/2319040408 As fertility sciences develop and refine as time goes on, the introduction of a gene-editing procedure on embryos has created immense ethical dilemmas. The technique called ‘CRISPR’, introduced in 2017, seeks to edit genomes to prevent the passing down of disease and disorder to future generations by removing, adding or altering sections of DNA in embryos (Your Geome, 2022). Whilst there are great hopes for this in the likes of preventing threatening diseases like cancer, there is a large discourse on the ethical approach to this; how far is too far? The editing of DNA has also been explored by Dr Jeff Steinberg, pioneer of IVF and ‘designer babies’, in which the baby’s eye colour can be chosen, and alteration of intelligence and strength is also being explored. ]]> 2022-09-29 09:11:45 UTC https://padlet.com/bculp01/ipadom0qnrs8gyj5/wish/2319040408 bculp01 https://padlet.com/bculp01/ipadom0qnrs8gyj5/wish/2374652591 Based on the milestones made within the formation of PGD and CRISPR processes, the increased research and funding that is being applied to these practices will mean that such facilities will become more accessible and frequent in fertility services, dependent on the laws of each country participating. The concept of 'Easy PGD' will be available; the fast and cheap access to IVF procedures and gene sequencing. This will include a production of mass embryos to perform these procedures on through efforts of freezing a slice of ovary or growing eggs from stem cells. It is estimated that such advanced procedures will occur in 20-40 years time, and there will be a significant increase in IVF babies through gene-editing (Ball, 2017)]]> 2022-11-08 09:10:00 UTC https://padlet.com/bculp01/ipadom0qnrs8gyj5/wish/2374652591