Prenatal genetics: An instrument of eugenics or protecting lives?

Abstract

Prenatal genome analysis started to gain popularity around 15 years ago. With the incredible rate of bioengineering development during 2010s, it has become possible to screen the gene pool of a human embryo or foetus for thousands of inborn diseases. But there is much more to this. Genetic screening opens wide prospects for sorting embryos in the assisted reproductive technologies and choosing an allegedly 'healthiest' embryo, that is literally making a bet on the 'best' future child. Finally, with the advent of CRISPR/Cas9, a powerful technique for genome editing, one becomes capable to introduce almost countless alterations into the gene pool of a future baby. [1] Jennifer Doudna, a Nobel prize winner and founder of the technique, confesses that science fiction comes true before our eyes. [1] What was real merely in fictitious worlds of books, video games and movies 10 years ago can be carried out in real-life biological laboratories