1 / 13

Nucleus

Nucleus. Chromo-somes. Mitochondria. Mitochondrial Diseases. Organs with high energy needs tend to be most severely affected e.g. muscle, brain, eyes, heart Prevalence - about 1:5000 people in the UK Around 1 in 200 children are born each year with abnormal mtDNA

vevay
Download Presentation

Nucleus

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Nucleus Chromo-somes Mitochondria

  2. Mitochondrial Diseases • Organs with high energy needs tend to be most severely affected e.g. muscle, brain, eyes, heart • Prevalence - about 1:5000 people in the UK • Around 1 in 200 children are born each year with abnormal mtDNA • Only 1 child in 10,000 is severely affected.

  3. Mitochondrial Diseases • Can lead to (recurrent) stillbirth, death of babies or children • It is not possible to predict how severely affected a child will be • [May not show up until adulthood] • Proposed techniques could ‘save’ around 10 lives each year in the UK • (NB it is not a ‘cure’ for existing cases)

  4. How may Mitochondrial Diseases be prevented? • ‘No children’ option • Adoption • Egg donation* • Prenatal diagnosis* early in pregnancy • Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis* • ‘Three parent’ IVF technique* * All have significant ethical implications

  5. ‘Three parent embryos’ - questions to be asked? • Is it necessary? • Does it work? • Is it safe? • Is it ethical? • Is it legal? • Why is it being advocated so strongly by some?

  6. Other Issues • Can v. ought • Ends v. means • “Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.”— Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals • Identity and parentage • Changing the germ-line!! • Wider social implications • Precedents and ‘slippery slopes’

  7. What about biblical principles? Made in the image of God God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:27 Fearfully and wonderfully made For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139:13-16 Children as a gift from God “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him”. Psalm 127:3 Others?

  8. Caveats • In discussion our arguments need to be consistent and non-contradictory • In considering biblical texts to support an argument the context is important. • Don’t fall into the ‘compassion trap’ too readily

  9. Three-parent embryos for mitochondrial disorders CMF files no:51 Summer 2013 • Philippa Taylor • www.cmf.org.uk

  10. Three films produced for the U.K. Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority explain how Mitochondria Replacement treatment works, and what (some of) the ethical and practical considerations are:http://www.closeupresearch.com/mitochondria_replacement_ethical_considerations.html

More Related