It's Bio Time!: November 2010

Can creating the baby of your dreams be as simple as choosing the perfect designer handbag? In a way, science and technology are coming close. In recent years, many new genetically based medical procedures have been introduced to the world. These procedures were essentially created to help correct the “3500 different genetic diseases that have been linked to defective genes”. One of the most controversial has been that of InVitro Fertilization (IVF). Incidents involving IVF have become very prominent in the media and with that, many misconceptions have been made. The term “designer babies” has even been given to describe the outcome of the procedure. Although possible, at the moment, the result of a "designed baby" is only a bad ending to a current myth.

An IFV treatment in process

IVF is performed to "reduce the chance that a child will be born with a genetic disorder". One can choose the type of sex and genes of the baby. In this method, a doctor would only fertilize sperm with a certain type of egg.Even though many people may assume differently, 'sex selection' is only permitted to avoid diseases that are sex-linked. The second method of IVF is referred to as PreImplantation Genetic Diagnosis or PGD. This method allows a doctor to remove a cell from the embryo and then test for genetic diseases. Only healthy embryos are re-enplanted back into the uterus. Although these procedures have been critiqued heavily, they offer opportunities to families who have not had them in the past.

A specialist performing an IVF procedure

Families with a long history of genetic diseases are the top beneficiaries of this modern baby making technology. One single cell can be the difference between a lifetime full of hardships and one with joy and enjoyment. In Vancouver, British Colombia, Tanya and Chris Kirby underwent a traumatic experience when Chris suffered a heart attack. Chris was born with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetically linked disease. When the couple wanted to start a family, they turned to IVF treatments and Tanya Kirby became pregnant with healthy twins. "If we can imagine getting rid of my condition or Huntington's." said Chris Kirby. The possibility of Chris’s disease being passed down was 1/2. These gene therapy methods have had amazing results and are very important to the livelihood of many families. But as the popularity of IVF and PGD has increased, so has the criticism.

These methods can be miracles for some but can be used unethically as well. In the United States, a deaf couple intentionally had a deaf child. By using the sperm of a man with "a long history of deafness" in the family, they were able to go through with this act. The gift of hearing was taken away from a child without proper reasoning. Incidents such as these begin to raise eyebrows. One of the most infamous situations involving IVF included Nadya Suleman, a California mother, with six children. She was en-planted with six embryos, with one splitting and creating twins. And thus, the "octomom" was born. Situations such as these turn IVF and PDG into something they are not.

The "Octomom" with all 14 of her children

Ultimately, IVF and PDG treamtments are still relatively new and there is still so much to discover. In fifteen years, we may be able to create our “dream baby”, but at the moment, the procedures we have in our grasp our doing more good than harm. Along with everything else touched by humanity, people will try to turn this into something for money and power. At the moment, an IVF treatment will cost aproxpamitley $30 000, which is much more than the average person can afford. All we can do as part of this ever changing world is try to educate our peers on the current misconceptions of gene therapy.