Expansionary Institute

Michael Zey
futurist3000@aol.com

By GREGG AAMOT
.c The Associated Press

 
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - When a husband and wife sought to save the life of their ailing 6-year-old daughter, they turned to a made-to-order embryo.

The procedure resulted in the birth of an infant boy, whose umbilical cord blood was used in transfusions that raised hopes his sister might be able to lead a normal life.

But the procedure also raised troubling ethical issues that a panel of 15 doctors, ethicists and others grappled with Friday during a forum at the University of Minnesota.

The panel hopes to publish its arguments in favor of growing embryos for the specific purpose of treating disease in a national medical journal.

``It's very thorny, and we tried to make our way through it,'' said Jeffrey Kahn, director of the university's Center for Bioethics.

Dr. John Wagner said hundreds of families worldwide have inquired about embryonic transplants since September, when physicians at the university performed the umbilical transfusions for 6-year-old Molly Nash of Englewood, Colo.

Molly had suffered from Fanconi anemia, a genetic disorder that prevented her body from making bone marrow. Infused cells from the cord blood successfully took over the functions of Molly's bone marrow, making platelets and disease-fighting white blood cells.

In that case, doctors fertilized 12 of mother Lisa Nash's eggs, tested 10 of the embryos, selected the one that became the baby boy, Adam, and froze the rest except for one embryo that tested positive for Fanconi anemia.

The procedure, known by doctors as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, has drawn criticism because unused embryos, as in the Nash case, could be discarded. Pope John Paul II is among those who have attacked the practice of discarding unused embryos. Also, federal law prohibits government funding for related embryonic stem cell research, a more controversial procedure that results in the death of an embryo. That research was not discussed Friday.

``Most of us agreed that there needs to be an ongoing discussion as this technology unfolds,'' Kahn said.

Lisa and Jack Nash were the first parents to conceive a child through in-vitro fertilization - and have the embryo screened to make sure it didn't have the disease and was a proper tissue match - so the baby could be a transplant donor.

During Friday's discussion, ethicists also addressed concerns over the use of embryonic screening for vanity or convenience rather than medical necessity.

Before embryos are made-to-order, parents and doctors should consider the risks and benefits to the children, as well as the parents' motivation, the panelists agreed.

The procedure should only be used by families that have a child with a disease that can be treated through the use of a screened embryo, they said. Also, the panel seeks increased monitoring of technology used in different institutions, Kahn and Wagner said.

Unacceptable uses would include terminating a made-to-order fetus to use aborted materials for treatment, and growing a child for umbilical cord blood or other material and then putting the child up for adoption, the panel agreed.

AP-NY-11-18-00 1524EST

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