Designer kids: technology is improving
Matchright technology will allow you to get to know your child even before conception
Marina Morskaya, "Naked Science" based on New Scientist: Meet your unborn child – before it's even conceived©Hannah Gal/ Science Photo Library
The Matchright technology, developed by GenePeeks, allows you to create digital embryos after analyzing the DNA of two people who are going to become parents. As a result, you can get a clear idea of the health of a hypothetical child of these people, as well as learn about his external data (eye color, skin pigmentation, approximate height and weight).
With the help of the new technology, which will be available at the end of this year in two American fertility clinics, women will be able, for example, to weed out those sperm donors whose genes, combined with the genes of the alleged mother, can increase the risk of inheriting genetic diseases.
In the future, Matchright technology is planned to be distributed worldwide.
"The technology recognizes any diseases and any signs that have a genetic origin. Including some of those whose genetic basis has not yet been discovered. But the priority, of course, is medical problems. With the help of technology, such rare hereditary diseases as cystic fibrosis or Tay-Sachs disease can be detected, which occur in a child only when both parents are carriers of a mutation in a single gene" – Lee Silver from Princeton University.
Usually, screening for genetic disorders involves decoding the DNA of future parents. Matchright, using this information to digitally recreate the process of genetic recombination, allows doctors to look at a set of genes of possible embryos.
Before a woman chooses a sperm donor, the GenePeeks algorithm will present a thousand hypothetical combinations for each applicant. Matchright allows you to detect mutations in individual genes that can cause about 500 rare diseases. After paying about $2,000 for this service, the woman will be provided with a list of potentially safe donors.
The software determines which mutations to look for based on a database of genes associated with various conditions. GenePeeks specialists used the information of unknown men and women whose genomes were ordered within the framework of the 1000 Genomes project to test this method. The researchers managed to create digital embryos of possible future children, as well as to establish the probability of their morbidity with various hereditary ailments.
"These studies have confirmed the system's ability to predict risks for future children. But the true value of the invention will be evaluated only in a few years, when a certain number of children are born. Although even then it will be impossible to discount spontaneous mutations" – Anne Morriss, co-founder of the company.
GenePeeks intends to improve the technology for detecting complex disorders that are affected by clusters of genes (for example, schizophrenia) or breast cancer. However, the problem here is that it is not always possible to understand how such complex genetic disorders interact.
Currently, many IVF (in vitro fertilization) clinics around the world are already testing donors for dozens of genetic disorders that are associated with single gene mutations. These clinics also study family history and conduct general health checks. However, diseases caused by single gene mutations affect only 4% of the population.
In the future, it is planned to offer the technology to couples who want to conceive a child naturally. Information about the future child that is not related to diseases will not be reported to potential parents. Except in cases where, say, childless or same-sex couples who want to give birth to a child from a donor who would look like both partners resort to technology.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru15.04.2014