Doctors want to Screen out Embryos with Autism

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2230764,00.ht

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(SMILING POPULATION CONTROL GUYS)

 

 

The Sunday Times

June 18, 2006

Doctors want to Screen out Embryos with Autism

Sarah-Kate Templeton, Health Correspondent

 

(SMILING POPULATION CONTROL GUYS)

 

A TEAM of doctors at one of Britain's leading hospitals wants to

create the country's first " designer babies " free from

autism.

They are preparing an application to the fertility watchdog that

would allow them to screen out male embryos to reduce significantly the

chance of a couple having an autistic child.

 

 

 

As boys are four times more likely to be born with autism than

girls, couples with a family history of the condition want to ensure

they

have only girls. Such sex selection is not at present permitted.

 

The technique, called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD),

has been used to create babies free from life-threatening illnesses such

as

Duchenne muscular dystrophy and haemophilia.

 

However, screening embryos to prevent babies being born with

autism would prove controversial because children born with the disorder

can

live long and healthy lives. Critics claim the treatment would be a step

closer to creating babies free from all imperfections.

 

The team at University College Hospital's assisted conception

unit in London decided to apply for a licence for the procedure after

they

were approached by a couple with a history of autism in the family.

 

Joy Delhanty, professor of human genetics at University College

London medical school, said couples would undergo the treatment only if

autism had inflicted severe suffering on the family.

 

Couples requesting the procedure would need to go through a

gruelling in-vitro fertilisation cycle, even though they had no

difficulty

conceiving naturally. The technique could be used only to prevent the

hereditary form of autism, which affects about 10% of cases. It is not

known

what causes autism in many children.

 

Delhanty said: " Normally we would not consider this unless there

were at least two boys affected in the immediate family. We would be

reducing the risk of autism. Couples are not going to undertake this

lightly

when we explain what they are going to need to go through. "

 

Two other families have previously approached the clinic

requesting pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. In both cases they are

understood to have had two sons with autism and hoped to have a daughter

free from the condition.

 

Delhanty hopes that now that the rules have been relaxed to

allow PGD screening for breast cancer the authorities will also consider

screening for autism. The team will research the pros and cons of the

technique further before submitting an application to the Human

Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.

 

The development would be strongly opposed by disabled groups.

Simone Aspis, parliamentary and campaigns worker for the British Council

of

Disabled People, said: " Screening out autism would breed a fear that

anyone

who is different in any way will not be accepted. Screening for autism

would

create a society where only perfection is valued. "

 

a.. Tony Blair has called for a new debate on late abortions. At

a private meeting he told Cardinal Keith O'Brien, head of the

Catholic

Church in Scotland, that most MPs might now back lowering the 24-week

limit.

He said there were " very troubling issues " involved and that the

viability

of foetuses had changed since the legislation was introduced in 1967.