Designer babies: new prenatal test raises ethical concerns

Advances in prenatal testing aren't going to yield "designer babies" quite yet, but the genetic tests are already raising some ethical concerns about the information they could reveal, says one expert.

TimothyCaulfield, a professor of law and science policy at the University of Alberta,will be speaking about the ethics of non-invasive prenatal testingat a conference onobstetrics and gynaecology in Vancouver on Wednesday.

The emerging healthtechnology, which is mostly being usedprior to amniotic fluid testing, allowsparents toscreen the entire genome of their fetuseven their sexthrough a simple bloodtest from the pregnant woman.

"That's really remarkable," says Caulfield."You would have all the genetic information of this unborn individual at your fingerprints now that's theoretically."

Currently the tests provide initial screening for geneticabnormalities, such as Down Syndrome, he says, and he doesn't expect it to be used to cultivatethe next Einstein, yet.

"Most traitslike intelligence and athletic ability, for example,are very complex traits," he notes. "We're notgoing to simply select for them, but I think it invites a discussion about this kind of thing."

The debate

Butthe fact the test can reveal the sex of a fetushas sparked another debate aftermedicalstudiesrevealed higher male-to-female birth ratios in some communities in Canada.

He says, while there have been calls for bans on abortions based on sex, he cautions the ethics of theissue are complicated by other considerations.

"Can you really restrict the access women have to informationabout themselves, because that is really what it would be," he asks.

"Are health care providers going to interrogate women ... to find out why they're having an abortion, which is a very complex and tough decision?"

Caulfieldpredicts discussion about the issue won't be fade awaysoon and discussion isa positivething.

"This is a technology that is here to stay ...so we need to get a handle on it."

To hear the full story listen to the audio labelled: Ethics of new prenatal testing