"Consumer genetics company 23andMe was granted a U.S. patent for a
method of predicting the likelihood that the child would have certain traits.
According to 23andMe, the patent relates to a tool currently available to
customers on the company’s website.
This tool allows users to see the likelihood of different traits in a child they might have with another 23andMe customer who has shared his or her online profile. Currently, the tool lets users predict the odds of six traits in a child: alcohol flush reaction, muscle performance, eye color, lactose tolerance, the ability to taste a bitter compound in foods, and earwax consistency. The patent also covers using the tool in fertility clinics, where “the donor selection device performs inheritance calculations pertaining to the phenotypes of interest and identifies one or more preferred donors for the recipient.” Some genetics analysis companies already provide similar services to screen for inherited diseases."
What's being done
Future Advancements
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"The public consultation into the use of this new technique will be lead by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority under the chairmanship of Prof Lisa Jardine who said 'It is genetic modification of the egg- that is uncharted territory' and went on to say that the consultation was about questions concerning 'balancing the desire to help families have healthy children with the possible impact on the children themselves and wider society'.
Medical techniques like this are inevitably controversial. The public debate over what is or is not ethically acceptable here in the UK is yet to be had and this blog is not the place to have it. However, at a recent event at which I was present, the Chief Medical Officer, Prof Dame Sally Davis encouraged researchers to enter a competition to make a short video about their research. I discovered today that one of the entrants is from a mitochondrial research group at Newcastle University. The film shows just how many people from a wide variety of professional backgrounds are working on our behalf eg geneticist, microbiologists, cell biologists, neuroscientists and a whole host of others. Despite the fact that these researchers are working in a laboratory setting, their ultimate goal is to translate their work into benefits for us, the patients."