NEW FRONTIERS: THE FUTURE OF BABY-MAKING
DESIGNER BABIES: Scientists say you will eventually be able to select the exact shade of your baby’s eyes and hair, and gauge the chances of him / her getting into a top B-school. In his book, The End of Sex And The Future Human Reproduction (Harvard University Press, 2016), American bioethicist Henry T Greely writes, ‘Within twenty, maybe forty, years most people in developed countries will stop having sex for the purpose of reproduction. Instead, prospective parents will be told as much as they wish to know about the genetic makeup of dozens of embryos, and they will pick one or two for implantation, gestation, and birth. And it will be safe, lawful, and free.’ Welcome to the world of tailor-made or designer babies.
EDIT THE GENE, ELIMINATE THE
DISEASE: This is a concept slowly gaining ground since the development of the Crispr-Cas9 technology in 2012. Also called molecular scissors, it’s a gene engineering tool that allows scientists to precisely target and edit pieces of the human genome.
Last year, in a first, researchers used this technique to reveal the role of a key gene in early stages of embryo development. The study was led by developmental biologist Kathy Niakan of the Francis Crick Institute in London and the findings were published in the journal Nature.
THREE-PERSON BABIES: TheUKis expected to have its first three-parent babies soon. In 2015, Britain legalised mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT), which began as a way of preventing serious disorders being passed on to children by their mothers, via the mitochondria. This treatment uses healthy mitochondria from a donor to replace faulty mitochondria. It is now being seen as a way to create babies with genes from more than two people. SPERM AND EGGS FROM SKIN:
In a lab procedure known as IVG (in vitro gametogenesis), scientists have been able to create sperm and egg cells using skin tissue. They’ve learnt to reprogramme adult cells into a younger state and then regrow them as potentially functioning reproductive cells. This could benefit people who are infertile, or are rendered infertile by treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy. But the technology is still in its infancy and faces battles over its legal and ethical status and potential for misuse.