'Designer Baby' Gets Go-Ahead (UK)
By Deutsche Welle,
Deutsche Welle
| 09. 10. 2004
British legislation allows the use of embryos in stem cell therapy
A couple in Northern Ireland have been permitted under a recent law in Great Britain to pursue the process which would lead to the first "designer baby," an embryo which would provide cells that could help treat the family's seriously ill three-year-old son.
To look at Joshua Fletcher, one would not see any signs of the illness. But he has a rare and potentially fatal blood disease called Diamond Blackfan anemia. In two years time, Joshua will be too old for the stem-cell therapy which could keep him alive. So for his parents, news that the treatment has been authorized is like the revocation of a death sentence.
"The chances are 95 percent in favor that Joshua with be cured by this therapy," said his father, Joe Fletcher. "If we do not do this, he will soon die." This new chance of life will come from an artificially created embryo, designed to provide cells for Joshua which in turn will produce the healthy red blood cells that will keep him alive.
The possible treatment was made a reality in the...
Related Articles
What We Inherit by Sam Trejo and Daphne O. Martschenko; and Original Sin by Kathryn Paige Harden have a great deal in common, with substantial differences in style and emphasis. Both books attempt, in different ways, to show the reader just where current research into human genomics stands, where that might be going, and why the authors are interested. In short, the influence of genomic research on our societies is already large and seems likely to change them in ways...
By Dan Falk, Nautilus | 08.20.2026
The pseudoscience of eugenics, founded on the mistaken notion that nature envisions some “right” combination of genes, and that selective breeding can improve the human race, is making a comeback. While the heyday of eugenics was a century ago, the...
By Adithi Ramakrishnan, AP News | 08.05.2026
NEW YORK (AP) — Matt Walker couldn’t pet a dog without sneezing — until he and other scientists used a gene editing technique to produce a hypoallergenic beagle named Bailey.
Now, he can feed Bailey spoons of peanut butter while...
By Brendan Borrell, Science | 07.23.2026
The young girl tugged on her mother’s hand as they pressed through the doors of the hospital in Shanghai. She was 6 years old, bouncing along in a pink jacket and blue pants decorated with cartoon bears. Behind them, her...
