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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Familial hypercholesterolaemia is not a nice
disease to have, with most sufferers dying young. I know a recently
qualified doctor with it. Perhaps he's only a burden to society with his
disease. Such embryos are now discardable; perhaps soon abortable.
Maybe diabetes next. Depression? Potentially fat people? IQ
potentially below 120? We just need genetic markers for some things.
We already abort potentially defective pre-humans, as well as those with minor
defects.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></sarcasm></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>God bless,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Stephen</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
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<HR>
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<H1 class=title>UK Sanctions Testing of Embryos for FH </H1><!-- /Title --><!-- SUBTitle -->
<DIV class=subtitle>from <A href="" target=_blank>Heart<I>wire</I></A> — a
professional news service of WebMD</DIV><!-- /SUBTitle --><BR><!-- Author Name Only if Publication is Medscape Wire--><!-- rule changed may 2005 with introduction of patient news-->
<DIV class=text12><B>Lisa Nainggolan</B></DIV><!-- /Author Name Only if Publication is Medscape Wire --><!-- Content --><!--
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<P>December 19, 2007<B> (London, UK) </B>– The UK <B>Human Fertilization and
Embryology Authority</B> (HFEA) has granted the first license to a clinic to
perform preimplantation genetic diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH)
[<FONT color=blue>1</FONT>]. </P>
<P>Contrary to media reports over the weekend, the license covers only the most
serious, homozygous, form of FH and not the more common heterozygous form. </P>
<P>The license has been awarded to <B>Dr Paul Serhal</B> (University College
London, UK). Serhal told <B>heart<I>wire</I></B> that his clinic requested a
license to screen for the homozygous form of FH only, and he believes his will
be the first institution in the world to screen embryos for this condition. </P>
<P><B>Dr Eric Topol</B> (Scripps Translational Science Institute, La Jolla, CA)
told <B>heart<I>wire</I></B>: "I think this is a very interesting development.
The ability to detect homozygous FH and the potential to act upon it, in fully
informed parents, represents a step forward. This rare, very serious condition
is exceptionally difficult to treat and is frankly incurable, with premature
coronary artery disease and death." </P>
<P><B>No heterozygous embryos will be discarded </B></P>
<P>FH is an autosomal dominant condition caused by a single gene defect on
chromosome 19. People inheriting two copies of the defective gene--which is
extremely rare (around one in one million people in the US)--show severely
elevated LDL-cholesterol levels from birth and are predisposed to early
atherosclerosis. Many die in childhood, and most suffer at least one MI by the
end of their 20s.</P>
<P>The milder, heterozygous form of FH is much more common, affecting one in 500
people, and it can be managed using a combination of diet and statin therapy,
although there are limited data on the long-term use of statins in children.
</P>
<P>The patients for whom the license has been awarded are in their 30s and
discovered that they were both heterozygous for FH only after having their first
child, a girl who is now five and is homozygous for FH. They also have an
unaffected son. </P>
<P>The preimplantation diagnosis will involve taking a single cell from each of
a number of embryos produced via in vitro fertilization; any embryos homozygous
for FH will be destroyed. The test will also identify whether any embryos are
heterozygous for FH. </P>
<P>Serhal told <B>heart<I>wire</I></B>: "We are very clear on this. We are not
going to throw away any heterozygous embryos. What is really important is to
focus on those who have the homozygous pattern and leave it at that." </P>
<P><B>Media reports inaccurate; headlines scream "designer babies"</B></P>
<P>Most media reports in the UK last weekend mistakenly said that the HFEA would
be granting a license to Serhal to screen for both the heterozygous and
homozygous forms of FH. The stories tended to focus on the heterozygous testing
angle and spouted much rhetoric about "designer babies."</P>
<P>An article in the <I>Times</I> of London, by Mark Henderson [<FONT
color=blue>2</FONT>], said: "The decision by the fertility watchdog will reopen
controversy over the ethics of designer babies, as it allows doctors to screen
embryos for a condition that is treatable with drugs and can be influenced by
lifestyle as well as genes. </P>
<P>"Critics argue that the test will allow couples to destroy embryos that would
have had a good chance of becoming children with fulfilling and reasonably
healthy lives," Henderson continues. "The test will also create an unprecedented
moral dilemma for some couples, as it could show that they have produced no
embryos completely unaffected by the disease. This would force them to decide
whether to implant embryos that they know have a genetic risk of premature heart
disease and death or to throw them away and deny them a chance of life." </P>
<P>The UK <I>Daily Mail</I> [<FONT color=blue>3</FONT>], citing the <I>Times</I>
article, got even more carried away: "Some experts fear extended genetic
screening may eventually be used to create babies chosen for physical
characteristics, such as blue eyes or blond hair." </P>
<P>Only the <I>Guardian</I> report indicated that the UK's fertility watchdog
might limit screening to the more serious, homozygous, form of FH [<FONT
color=blue>4</FONT>]. </P>
<P>Serhal told <B>heart<I>wire</I></B> that he thought he had made it clear to
journalists he spoke to that he had requested a license only for and would be
screening only for homozygous FH.<I> </I></P>
<OL>
<LI>Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority. HFEA statement on a licence
to screen for homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. December 19, 2007.
Available at: <B><A href=""
target=_blank>http://www.hfea.gov.uk/en/273.html</A></B>.</LI>
<LI>Henderson M. Designer baby fear over heart gene test. London <I>Times</I>,
December 15, 2007. Available at: <B><A href=""
target=_blank>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article3054249.ece</A></B>.</LI>
<LI>McDermott N. Designer baby fears after couple win right to scan for heart
disease gene. <I>Daily Mail</I>, December 15, 2007. Available at: <B><A
href=""
target=_blank>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=502477&in_page_id=1774</A></B></LI>
<LI>Topping A. Gene test to screen embryos at risk of developing heart
illness. <I>Guardian</I>, December 15, 2007. Available at: <B><A href=""
target=_blank>http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/dec/15/genetics.health</A></B>.
.</LI></OL></DIV></BODY></HTML>