Excuse me for replying to my own messge
but
this is an example of (PGD) preimplantation genetic diagnosis
i didn't conciously realize the significance at the time
HLA typng was done to select the
most compatable and normal embryos before implanting,
so that a tissue match could be used for a sibling
with minimal chance of tissue transplant rejection.
Ray
.....................................................................
Raymond Strand wrote:
>
> This info is from a stemcell list-serve group.
> I thought it might be of interest to some,
> a different use of embryonic stem cells
> and the initial discussion of the ethics.
> We have heard of this case--on the PD list.
>
> Ray
>
> ................................................................
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2001 11:00:22 EDT
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Unaffected Embryo Preselected as Cord Blood Donor to Sibling
>
> Unaffected Embryo Preselected as Cord Blood Donor to Sibling
>
> WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) Jun 26 - It took four tries, but
> investigators
> have successfully preselected a healthy embryo to be HLA-compatible with a
> sibling with Fanconi anemia who needed stem cell transplantation.
>
> A full report appears in the June 27th issue of The Journal of the American
> Medical Association. Reuters Health previously reported on the case based
> on
> hospital news releases
>
> http://www.medscape.com/reuters/prof/2000/10/10.03/20001002prof003.html
> October 2,2000
>
> http://www.medscape.com/reuters/prof/2000/10/10.20/20001019ethc001.html
> October 19, 2000
>
> http://www.medscape.com/reuters/prof/2001/01/01.08/20010105ethc002.html
> January 5, 2001
>
> A couple with a 6-year-old daughter with the congenital disorder underwent
> in vitro fertilization at the Reproductive Genetics Institute in Chicago.
> Dr. Yury Verlinsky and colleagues conducted micromanipulation procedures to
> biopsy single blastomeres from day-3 cleaving embryos.
>
> "In this stage, each cell is still multipotent," making the procedure safe
> for the developing fetus, Dr. Verlinsky told Reuters Health. He noted that
> this was the first case in the world in which HLA matching was performed in
> preimplantation embryos. Since then, he and his colleagues have conducted
> similar testing for "about 15 new patients," he said.
>
> Of 33 embryos tested during four clinical cycles, five were heterozygous
> unaffected and HLA-antigen identical with the sibling. Transfer of one of
> these embryos during the last cycle resulted in a clinical pregnancy and
> birth of a healthy infant boy. Umbilical cord blood transplantation
> resulted
> in successful hematopoietic reconstitution in the older sister.
>
> Dr. Verlinsky's group suggests that preimplantation genetic testing and HLA
> matching will be feasible for other inherited conditions, such as
> thalassemias. HLA antigen testing in single blastomeres could also be
> conducted for couples who have children with cancer who need an
> HLA-compatible donor.
>
> In an editorial, Dr. Marian D. Damewood of the Johns Hopkins University
> School of Medicine in Baltimore discusses the ethical implications of the
> report. She suggests that "in this case, prediagnostic genetic diagnosis
> and
> embryo selection is morally justifiable."
>
> "The avoidance of the pain and suffering of an affected child is considered
> to be worth more than the moral status of early embryos," she writes.
>
> She opines, however, that this procedure is not likely to be considered
> ethical for couples wishing to select an embryo with a specific nonmedical
> characteristic, which she refers to as "designer genetics."
>
> JAMA 2001;285:3130-3133,3143-3144.
>
> ..................................................................
Ray Strand
Prairie Sky Design
-----------------( on the Edge of the Prairie Abyss )---------------
when the sky is clear
the ground is visible
49/dx 47/40? onset
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