Shopping for Genes: Law and Ethics of the Genetic Supermarket
Bence Halmos
Imagine that a couple visits a fertility clinic. The doctor presents them not with one or two viable embryos, but with fifty (each with a description which predicts the likelihood of developing heart disease, estimated IQ range, height and even personality traits). The couple browses, compares and selects. This sounds like a scene from a science fiction, however it is now edging towards reality. There have been significant advances in two interrelated technologies: In Vitro Gametogenesis (IVG) and polygenetic embryo testing. These two technologies together make what philosophers call the ‘genetic supermarket’ a serious possibility and existing law is not yet ready for it.
