Lunch hour lectures repository Spring 2011
- Who enjoys shopping in Ikea?
- Building scientific models with computers
- Stabilising the global population: Where next for the Millennium Development Goals for health and nutrition?
- Lisbon, 1939-45: the untold story of Portugal and the Jewish refugees
- Homophobia: a global phenomenon
- Landing on a planet at 600 miles per hour
- From prehistory to the London blitz: foreshore archaeology and a rising river
- Sex education via the media: promises and pitfalls
- Will robots take over the world?
- The origins of the ‘ndrangheta of Calabria: Italy’s most powerful mafia
- Genetic testing in the 21st century: Should we screen the human embryonic genome before implantation?
- Sex, Drugs, the Internet and Juries
- Should the brain be left to neuroscientists?
- Great 2 meet u IRL :-) Twitter and digital identity
- Would you give your right arm to protect your heart?
Genetic testing in the 21st century: Should we screen the human embryonic genome before implantation?
15 March 2011
8 March 2011
Dr Joyce Harper (UCL Centre for preimplantation genetic diagnosis)
In preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), embryos are created by IVF and cells removed from these embryos for genetic analysis. Until recently, testing was solely for the disease the couple carried. The use of array-comparative genomic hybridisation and single nucleotide polymorphism arrays has entered the PGD arena. These techniques allow all chromosomes and many genes to be examined. The analysis of the whole genome prior to implantation brings ethical concerns. Will healthy couples opt for PGD to select their ‘best’ offspring?
Page last modified on 15 mar 11 09:08

