Sigal Klipstein1. 1. Harvard Medical School, Department of Social Medicine, Division of Medical Ethics, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To describe the ethical issues inherent to the current and foreseeable uses of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). DESIGN: Review of ethical principles and their application to PGD. SETTING: Academic medical center. PATIENT(S): None. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): A discussion of the current ethical perils surrounding the use of PGD, and a prediction of future ethical quandaries that will arise from the use of this technology. RESULT(S): Although PGD may be used to predict and prevent disease, it may also be used to determine nondisease traits. The ever-expanding ability of genetics to determine qualities of the preimplantation embryo continues to open up new ethical questions relating to the use of PGD for preimplantation diagnosis. CONCLUSION(S): Preimplantation genetic diagnosis is a powerful technique with many positive applications. As with all such new technologies, care should be taken to ponder the ethical implications of its use before routinely accepting PGD as a tool in the reproductive armamentarium.
OBJECTIVE: To describe the ethical issues inherent to the current and foreseeable uses of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). DESIGN: Review of ethical principles and their application to PGD. SETTING: Academic medical center. PATIENT(S): None. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): A discussion of the current ethical perils surrounding the use of PGD, and a prediction of future ethical quandaries that will arise from the use of this technology. RESULT(S): Although PGD may be used to predict and prevent disease, it may also be used to determine nondisease traits. The ever-expanding ability of genetics to determine qualities of the preimplantation embryo continues to open up new ethical questions relating to the use of PGD for preimplantation diagnosis. CONCLUSION(S): Preimplantation genetic diagnosis is a powerful technique with many positive applications. As with all such new technologies, care should be taken to ponder the ethical implications of its use before routinely accepting PGD as a tool in the reproductive armamentarium.
Authors: Patricia E Hershberger; Agatha M Gallo; Karen Kavanaugh; Ellen Olshansky; Alan Schwartz; Ilan Tur-Kaspa Journal: Soc Sci Med Date: 2012-03-07 Impact factor: 4.634