{"id":3096,"date":"2012-07-14T19:04:47","date_gmt":"2012-07-14T18:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/?p=3096"},"modified":"2012-07-14T19:06:28","modified_gmt":"2012-07-14T18:06:28","slug":"zygote-selection-eugenics-is-nearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/2012\/07\/zygote-selection-eugenics-is-nearing\/","title":{"rendered":"Zygote\/embryo selection eugenics is nearing"},"content":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/infoproc.blogspot.dk\/2012\/07\/whole-genome-sequence-from-10-to-20.html<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis new Nature paper describes a genotyping technique that can be performed using only a small number of human cells. One implication is that we are close to non-destructive sequencing of human gametes and zygotes. For example, parents participating in IVF can potentially genotype fertilized eggs before deciding which to implant. \u201c<\/p>\n

also<\/p>\n

http:\/\/infoproc.blogspot.dk\/2010\/10\/maxwells-demon-and-genetic-engineering.html<\/a><\/p>\n

“Ronald Fisher<\/a> on positive alleles for intelligence, in Mendelism and Biometry<\/a> (1911).<\/p>\n

\n

Suppose we knew, for example, 20 pairs of mental characters [loci in the genome]. These would combine in over a million pure mental types; each of these would naturally occur rather less frequently than once in a billion; or in a country like England about once in 20,000 generations [assuming the positive variants are somewhat rare]; it will give some idea as to the excellence of the best of these types when we consider that the Englishmen from Shakespeare to Darwin have occurred within 10 generations; the thought of a race of men combining the illustrious qualities of these giants, and breeding true to them, is almost too overwhelming, but such a race will inevitably arise in whatever country first sees the inheritance of mental characters elucidated. \u201c<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Lastly, compare with Richard Lynn’s suggestion in his book Eugenics<\/em>: A reassessment<\/em><\/a> <\/em>(nicely provided by Lynn himself!):<\/p>\n

\n\u201c6. EMBRYO SELECTION
\nEmbryo selection consists of growing a number of embryos in vitro, testing
\nthem for their genetic characteristics, and selecting for implantation those
\nwith genetic characteristics regarded as desirable, while at the same time
\ndiscarding those with genetic characteristics regarded as undesirable. This
\nprocedure is also known as embryo biopsy, which entails growing several blas-
\ntocysts (embryos grown in vitro to eight cells), removing one of the eight
\ncells, and testing it for genetic and chromosomal defects. Verlinksy, Pergament,
\nand Strom (1990) reported the use of this procedure to screen out embryos
\nwith genes for Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy and Down’s syndrome, so an
\nembryo free of these disorders could be implanted in the mother. At about
\nthe same time, another use of this technique was reported by Handyside and
\nhis colleagues at London University. They used IVF (in vitro fertilization) for
\ntwo couples in which the female was a carrier for an X-linked recessive dis-
\nease, which is expressed only in males. To avoid the potential birth of a boy
\nwith the X-linked disorder, the physicians tested for the sex of the embryos
\nand implanted only females. This technique allows couples to choose the sex
\nof their babies, whether this is to avoid having babies likely to inherit serious
\ndisorders, or simply because they prefer one sex rather than the other.
\nIn the 1990s there was rapid progress in preimplantation diagnosis and the
\nscreening out of embryos with genetic diseases and disorders. By 1995 preim-
\nplantation diagnosis of embryos for the presence of genetic diseases and dis-
\norders was being carried out in 16 centers in various countries. Initially, this
\nwork was done to screen for genetic diseases affecting babies at birth or shortly
\nafter birth. By the late 1990s, this was extended to screen for the presence of
\ncancer genes that would cause tumors likely to appear only in adulthood. The
\nfirst use of this method for the diagnosis of cancer genes was carried out in
\nBritain in 1996 on the embryo of a woman with familial adenomatous poly-
\nposis (FAP), a form of bowel cancer caused by a dominant gene. By the end
\nof the twentieth century, it had become possible to screen embryos for several
\nthousands of genetic diseases and disorders.
\nPreimplantation diagnosis and embryo selection is preferable to prenatal
\ndiagnosis and abortion of defective fetuses as a means of securing a healthy
\nbaby. It avoids the stress of abortion, and it greatly increases the probability
\nof having a child free of genetic diseases. Women who use prenatal diagnosis
\nand abortion of impaired fetuses may become pregnant again and, in the case
\nof single-gene diseases, are at significant risk of having another fetus with the
\ndisease and having to undergo a second pregnancy termination. These stresses
\ncan be avoided by the use of preimplantation diagnosis and embryo selection.
\nAlthough the procedures have not been used extensively by the beginning of
\nthe twenty-first century, they are a significant eugenic advance. \u201c (p. 252)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/infoproc.blogspot.dk\/2012\/07\/whole-genome-sequence-from-10-to-20.html \u201cThis new Nature paper describes a genotyping technique that can be performed using only a small number of human cells. One implication is that we are close to non-destructive sequencing of human gametes and zygotes. For example, parents participating in IVF can potentially genotype fertilized eggs before deciding which to implant. \u201c also http:\/\/infoproc.blogspot.dk\/2010\/10\/maxwells-demon-and-genetic-engineering.html […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1912],"class_list":["post-3096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-eugenics-genetics","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3096"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3098,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3096\/revisions\/3098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}