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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3902407.stm
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is to debate its policy on creating babies who can help sick siblings.

 

It will consider a doctor's request to select an embryo for a Northern Ireland couple that is a blood match with their son, who has a rare blood disorder.

 

Currently embryos can only be screened for serious genetic disorders.

 

Dr Mohamed Taranissi, the director of London's Assisted Reproduction Gynaecology Centre, is pursuing a rule change in a bid to help two-year-old Joshua Fletcher, from Moira, County Down.

 

Joshua has a potentially fatal blood disorder called Diamond Blackfan anaemia (DBA), which can be treated by using stem cells to stimulate his body to produce healthy red blood cells.

 

 

 
  We only want to give our son the best chance for a cure for a condition which could take his life
Joe Fletcher
Father of baby Joshua

 

 

Neither his parents, Joe and Julie, nor his five-year-old brother Adam are close enough matches to give him the stem cells he needs.

But IVF technology...

Genetic Selection
Technologies