{"id":456,"date":"2003-06-20T09:28:07","date_gmt":"2003-06-20T09:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/groonk.net\/blog\/?p=456"},"modified":"2003-06-20T09:28:07","modified_gmt":"2003-06-20T09:28:07","slug":"banned-designer-baby-is-born-in-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.groonk.net\/blog\/2003\/06\/banned-designer-baby-is-born-in-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"Banned “designer baby” is born in UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

The furore over “designer babies” has re-ignited in the UK with the birth of a tissue-matched baby to a couple banned from using the technique by UK authorities.<\/a><\/p>\n

Baby James Whitaker was born in Sheffield on Monday, and is 98 per cent likely to provide a tissue-match for his seriously ill brother Charlie.<\/p>\n

Parents Michelle and Jayson Whitaker travelled to the US in 2002 to conceive a baby with the same immune system genes as four-year-old Charlie, who suffers from a rare disorder called Diamond Blackfan anaemia.<\/p>\n

The Whitakers were refused permission to create a matched baby by the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in August 2002. The procedure would be “unlawful and unethical”, said the HFEA, because it involved some risk to the embryo but the only benefit would be to Charlie.<\/p>\n


\nTissue-typing of embryos is only permitted in the UK if it is used in combination with screening for a serious genetic disease that poses a risk to the embryo. This was the case with Raj and Shahana Hashmi, who were allowed to create a sibling for their son Zain, who suffers from the genetic blood disorder beta-thalassaemia.<\/p>\n

“The difference between the Whitakers’ case and the Hashmis’ is that the Hashmi parents were carriers of the disease and any embryo created would have had a one in four risk of having the disease,” says HFEA spokeswoman Vishnee Seenundun.<\/p>\n

“In the case of the Whitakers, the disease in the child is classified as a sporadic mutation – the parents did not have any disease or traits to pass on to the child,” she told New Scientist.<\/p>\n

Testing time<\/p>\n

Sufferers of Diamond Blackfan anaemia produce too few red blood cells and usually die before the age of 30. Currently, Charlie gets regular blood transfusions and injections five nights a week, but only a transplant of perfectly matched stem cells will save him.<\/p>\n

Stem cells have been collected from James’ umbilical cord and tests will reveal whether the tissue is a perfect match in a few days. However, it is possible that James may also suffer from the rare anaemia. It will take several months of tests to determine this.<\/p>\n

Mrs Whitaker was treated at the Reproductive Genetics Institute in Chicago in October 2002, where the world’s first “designer baby” was created in 2000. James is the second selected baby to be born in the UK<\/p>\n

The British Medical Association backed the Whitakers’ success. “As doctors we believe that where technology exists that could help a dying or seriously ill child without involving major risks for others, then it can only be right that it is used for this purpose,” says Vivienne Nathanson, head of BMA ethics and science.<\/p>\n

The continuing fierce debate about “designer babies” may influence the HFEA’s future policies, admits Seenundun: “All our policies are constantly reviewed and we do take into account public opinion.”<\/p>\n

Repeat miscarriages<\/p>\n

Another major milestone in embryo screening in the UK was announced on Tuesday, with the first pregnancy of a woman using the technique to reduce the risk of having a Down’s Syndrome baby. “Aneuploidy screening” was licensed in the UK by the HFEA in November 2002.<\/p>\n

The technique screens for the chromosome abnormalities that afflict embryos produced by many older women who have suffered repeat miscarriages.<\/p>\n

A 42-year-old woman who suffered miscarriages and infertility for six years is now 10 weeks pregnant said her doctors at the CARE clinic in Nottingham.<\/p>\n

Shaoni Bhattacharya<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The furore over “designer babies” has re-ignited in the UK with the birth of a tissue-matched baby to a couple banned from using the technique by UK authorities. Baby James Whitaker was born in Sheffield on Monday, and is 98 per cent likely to provide a tissue-match for his seriously ill brother Charlie. Parents Michelle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,9],"tags":[4931],"class_list":["post-456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cloning","category-science","tag-cloning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.groonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.groonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.groonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.groonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.groonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.groonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.groonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.groonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.groonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}