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| home : pages : what's new in medicine vol. 6 : the genetic report card : | |||||
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THE GENETIC REPORT CARDIn the next decade, a baby first check up will be in the Petri dish while she is an eight-cell embryo.By 2010, geneticists will be able to predict babies' propensities for many of the diseases: breast, colon and prostate cancer, heart disease and diabetes. The key will be a DNA chip. With one amplified droplet of DNA, a thumbnail-size chip will be able to vet embryos for hundreds of genetic diseases. The rudiments of embryo screening exist today in a rare procedure called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). PGD is still in fancy: geneticists analyze only one gene at the time, and there are only several tests available - sickle cell anaemia, cystic fibrosis, fragile X syndrome among them - most of which are for severe childhood disorders. Over the next decade, according to Dr. Charles Strom, director of medical genetics at the Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago, research will usher in hundreds of new tests for genetic diseases, including adult onset illnesses like various cancers, Alzheimer's, hypertension, kidney disease and schizophrenia. Based on current biochip technology, the dime size chip will resemble a computer circuit board with an intricate maze of gene patterns for diseases. When the embryo's DNA binds to a specific pattern, the segment of the chip will change color (from say, red to green) - signalling an aberrant gene sequence. A scanner will then read the matched patterns and feed the results to a computer. In minutes, the computer will spit out the embryo's genetic card. Since everyone carries at least several mutations, no embryo will emerge from DNA screening with a perfect score. And most mutations suggest a propensity, not a guarantee, for a disease. And by the 22nd century, doing the best for your kid may include gene therapy or "fixing" the imperfect eggs by replacing bad genes with good ones. (From The NYT Magazine, 06/2000, by Maggie Jones) --> return to menu / back ... (click) --> return to top of the page (click) |
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