Tuesday, December 4, 2012

A child with 2 moms, 1 dad: Ethical concerns surrounding 3-parent IVF | Essentials

A child with 2 moms, 1 dad: Ethical concerns surrounding 3-parent IVF

Excerpt:

One child, three parents. It's a principle that seems like science fiction, however the possibility of a child being developed by even more than 2 individuals is coming to be even more of a fact. According to a recent report in Nature, researchers from Oregon Health & Sciences University have actually effectively produced human embryos with genetic details from one man and 2 different women. The ground-breaking technique is suggested to avoid the passing on of deadly mitochondrial diseases from mom to child. RELATED: US researcher effectively make embryos with 2 women, 1 man Mitochondrial diseases occur when the mitochondria-- small structures within cells accountable for producing energy-- fail to operate as they should. The result can be debilitating illness from cell death and entire biological system failure.

People:

Laurie Zoloth

Overall Sentiment: 0.0897147

Relevance: 0.472051

SentimentQuote
0“It uses the same principle as cloning, switching out the DNA of one women for the DNA of another,” Laurie Zoloth, a professor of medical humanities and bioethics at Northwestern University, told ...
-0.0284332“It uses the same principle as cloning, switching out the DNA of one women for the DNA of another,” Laurie Zoloth, a professor of medical humanities and bioethics at Northwestern University, told FoxNews.com.  “…Last time we debated cloning, using adult cells and not eggs– we were determining whether it could be used as a method to make a matched stem cell line.  It was ultimately decided you can use cloning for stem cell lines, but not to make babies because of the risks involved when you manipulate embryos this much.  We’ve had the debate, and the answer has been ‘no.’ We can’t just go ahead and say the debate didn’t happen.”
0.303991Zoloth said the procedure is crossing a “bright line” ...
-0.0950169“The way we have avoided genetic diseases so far is by  selecting embryos without the [faulty] genetic characteristics and using them to initiate a pregnancy,” Zoloth said. ...
-0.0957715“The way we have avoided genetic diseases so far is by  selecting embryos without the [faulty] genetic characteristics and using them to initiate a pregnancy,” Zoloth said.  “We didn’t allow for manipulation of the DNA of the embryo, because we want to draw a line – against therapies that can be treated in one person and then passed on through the generations.  This [study] calls out that line.”
0“antidote.” “It’s not about curing mitochondrial disease,” Zoloth said. ...
-0.212513“antidote.” “It’s not about curing mitochondrial disease,” Zoloth said.  “It’s about women who are carriers for mitochondrial disease who have perhaps had one child with a severe case and don’t want to have a second.  But this doesn’t cure the disease or keep the baby from having disease.  It just prevents transmission to the embryo through very high-risk technology.  It makes a brand new sort of egg cell, and we have no idea what that means in humans.”
0.107687“People really want what they think is 'their' DNA,” Zoloth said. ...
0.107275“People really want what they think is 'their' DNA,” Zoloth said.  “That’s ethically problematic, because you’re taking a huge risk for this very narrow purpose – which is passing on [your] particular genetic code at a very high cost.  It is saying that this genetic passing on is at such importance to me that I’m willing to risk the potential health of my child.”
0.274872“In light of a world in which millions of children need good homes – half a million children are in American foster care – surely there are other ways to be a parent,” Zoloth said. ...
Sentiment Stats:
  • Number of Quotes: 10
  • Aggregate Sentiment: 0.3620904
  • Mean: 0.03620904
  • Standard Deviation: 0

Dr. Michael Lucchesi

Overall Sentiment: -0.103026

Relevance: 0.161379

Dr. Suzanne Debrosse

Overall Sentiment: -0.462174

Relevance: 0.159742

SentimentQuote
-0.0450675“If we were able to know every single mom who carried mitochondria DNA mutations, and use this technique, then we could effectively eliminate the [diseases] that come from the mitochondrial DNA,” Dr. Suzanne Debrosse, a pediatric geneticist specializing in mitochondrial diseases at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, told ...
0“If we were able to know every single mom who carried mitochondria DNA mutations, and use this technique, then we could effectively eliminate the [diseases] that come from the mitochondrial DNA,” Dr. Suzanne Debrosse, a pediatric geneticist specializing in mitochondrial diseases at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, told FoxNews.com.  “However, this doesn’t help with the mitochondria disorders that come from the nucleus DNA.  Since the mom’s donating her nucleus, this will not help them.”
Sentiment Stats:
  • Number of Quotes: 2
  • Aggregate Sentiment: -0.0450675
  • Mean: -0.02253375
  • Standard Deviation: 0

Key:

  • Aggregate Sentiment is meant to be an indicator of an individual's overall sentiment.
  • The Mean is meant to be an indicator of an individual's average comment sentiment.
  • The Standard Deviation, when there are enough quotes, will indicate an individual's consistency of sentiment (i.e. a Standard Deviation of 0 would mean they were very consistent in their sentiment and 1 would mean they were very inconsistent).

Note that quote stats are likely to be meaningless beyond the aggregate score due to the tiny sample size. However, they are always provided just in case you find something useful there.

Additional Info:

HealthCondition: mitochondrial disease

Overall Sentiment: -0.141516

Relevance: 0.945483

FieldTerminology: DNA

Overall Sentiment: -0.0169229

Relevance: 0.583433

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