The body called the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is supporting the widening of screening at embryo stage, for more inherited diseases and conditions.
The body, set up to regulate the practice of embryo research and medical treatment, thinks there is a strong argument for parents to have the choice of screening for conditions such as breast cancer.
This only refers to the treatment of embryos outside natural fertilisation. That is, currently a pregnant woman is offered the option of routine fetal screening for Downs Syndrome and Cystic Fibrosis.
In pre-implantation genetic disgnosis (PGD), an embryo being used for 'assisted conception' can be screened for certain conditions before being put back into the woman for pregnancy. Current HFEA guidelines have licenced ten UK clinics to screen for disease where there can be found a DEFINITE instance of disease, but the new rules would allow testing for genes that MIGHT lead to disease.
Reaction has been mixed. Pro-life attitudes to any such testing is strongly opposed and many people inside and outside that lobby fear this will lead to increased testing, not just for potentially inherited cancers such as breast cancer, but for lesser conditions in the search for the 'perfect baby'.
Those who support the move include some women who have a family history of early breast cancer and who would like the chance to rule out passing that gene down to their children.
It is a difficult subject, especially as it might encourage parents who do not need assisted conception to take that route in order to better control the 'quality' of an embryo. If you want to find out more about what the HFEA does and what it proposing, visit the HFEA website.
