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NOTES - In Vitro Fertilization & Genetic Screening. What is in vitro fertilization ?. In vitro fertilization – a process by which egg cells are fertilized by sperm cells outside of the body. What is in vitro fertilization ?. Egg cells are removed from the woman’s ovaries
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What is in vitro fertilization? • In vitro fertilization – a process by which egg cells are fertilized by sperm cells outside of the body
What is in vitro fertilization? • Egg cells are removed from the woman’s ovaries • The egg cells are placed in a fluid within a Petri dish • Sperm cells from the male are placed in the dish to fertilize the eggs • A fertilized egg (embryo) is then transferred to the woman’s uterus - usually more than one embryo is transferred at a time to increase the chances of success
What is in vitro fertilization? • The first IVF baby, Louise Brown, was born in 1978 - currently about 1% of US births are IVF • IVF leads to pregnancy about 35% of the time and live births about 27% of the time • One in vitro cycle costs anywhere between $10,000 and $20,000
What is genetic screening? • Genetic screening – looking at the DNA of an organism in order to identify genes that cause particular traits • Genetic screening is currently used to look for genes that cause hereditary diseases or for genes that increase the likelihood of developing a certain disease
What is genetic screening? • Currently, scientists are trying to figure out exactly what it is that each of the approximately 35,000 genes contained in human DNA actually does. • Once scientists know what traits all human genes are responsible for, they will be able to look at anybody’s DNA and predict likely physical and behavioral traits. • What are the consequences of being able to predict all this information about a person?
How can genetic screening be combined with in vitro fertilization? • Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) – Embryos created through in vitro fertilization are genetically screened before they are implanted back into the mother • What does this mean? A few possibilities: • Carriers of genes for hereditary diseases would be able to have children without passing on their defective genes • People are able to choose the sex of their baby • People may be able to select other traits for their unborn children that they find to be desirable
Questions • Who pays for PGD? • How much will people be allowed to choose? • How much should people be allowed to choose? • Who will have access to your genetic information? • How should a person’s genetic information be used?