Fertilization with donor sperm: the risk of hereditary diseases will become less
Currently, sperm donors undergo genetic screening, revealing a number of hereditary diseases. In addition, recipients can choose donors based on data on their height, body type and education level.
Next year, the possibilities of choice will be expanded with the help of genetic analysis, which reveals the likelihood of genetic diseases when combining the recipient's DNA with the donor's DNA. This will prevent the appearance of children with chronic and often incompatible with life diseases, manifested in the presence of two defective copies of the gene in the genome, one of which is inherited from the mother, and the second from the father.
GenePeeks will use microchips to scan approximately 250,000 DNA bases in the genomes of a sperm bank client and potential donors, which is much cheaper than genome-wide sequencing. The data obtained will be used to create thousands of virtual genomes of children. Each of the virtual genomes will be analyzed for the risks of developing diseases with a recessive type of inheritance. Subsequently, donors whose fertilization with sperm is fraught with the appearance of children with hereditary diseases will be excluded from the choice.
The background for the creation of GenePeeks was the personal experience of the company's chief executive Officer, Anne Morriss. Her son, who was born as a result of fertilization with donor sperm, suffers from a genetic disease in which the body cannot use fats as an energy source, which can lead to coma, convulsions and sudden death. No one in the Morriss family has suffered from this disease, but she is the carrier of one defective copy of the gene and randomly selected a donor who also has one non-functional copy of the same gene.
The company is also working on the creation of a group of experts on genetic counseling, which will work with both donors and clients of sperm banks. However, as a result, the bank's clients will receive only an individually selected list of potential donors. The DNA of the donor and the client will not be analyzed for the risk of transmission of hereditary diseases to children. Risk assessment will be carried out only for virtual genomes of children. In cases where a high risk of transmission of a genetic disease is detected, depending on the instructions received from the donor or client prior to testing, experts will report this directly to the donor or client, or their attending physicians, or leave this information closed. These mechanisms are currently still under development.
According to Morriss, the service provided by the company should be accessible to the general public: its cost, most likely, will not exceed $ 1,000.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of MIT Technology Review:
Genetic Screening Can Uncover Risky Matches at the Sperm Bank.
21.11.2012