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Comparative European Approaches to PGD
- Background
- Speaker Profiles
- Recommended Resources
Background
Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) is a technique that has resulted from various developments in the fields of reproductive and genetic technologies. It involves the testing of embryos produced through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) for the presence of a range of genetic disorders. It may be considered as an early form of prenatal diagnosis. A single cell is removed from an embryo at the eight-cell stage of development (around three days old), leaving the rest of the embryo intact. The DNA from the removed cell may then be analysed to determine a range of genetic characteristics including the presence of sex chromosomes, extra genetic material (as in Down syndrome) or genetic variants such as the BCRA1 gene associated with familial forms of cancer. In practice a large number of embryos are usually created by IVF and each embryo is then tested by PGD. A decision can then be made to select one or more unaffected embryos for re-insertion into the mother's womb. This process is termed PGD with embryo selection.
On 1st May 2007, BioCentre: Centre for Bioethics & Public Policy hosted a symposium on ‘Comparative European Approaches to PGD’. This was the second symposium in the centre’s ‘Global Perspectives on BioPolicy’ symposium series, held at the Royal Society of Medicine, London.
Professor Nigel M. de. S. Cameron, Executive Chairman of BioCentre, opened the symposium with some introductory remarks before introducing Judge Christian Byk. In contrast to the first symposium of the series which focused on the more general issue of the UNESCO Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, Professor Cameron noted that the question of PGD is more highly complex and problematic. For example, the title of the first presentation clearly sets the issue in context through its focus on the ambiguity of law, medicine and social practice inherent in this application of artificial reproductive technology. By reviewing various European policies,
Professor Cameron expressed his hope that the afternoon would provide opportunity to debate the UK policy situation more specifically.
Speaker Profiles
Judge Christian Byk
Court of Appeal, Paris and Secretary general, International Association of Law, Ethics
and Science.
Speaking on: Prenatal Genetic Diagnosis: An Ambiguous Legal Status for an Ambiguous Medical and Social Practice
Christian Byk is Judge at the Court of Appeal in Paris and also Deputy Chief Justice at the Paris North Superior Court. Amongst his past appointments, he was senior legal counsel at the International Law Office, Department of Justice; governmental expert for industrial property, biolaw, privacy law, international private law, biotechnology, nuclear energy, diplomatic law at the Council of Europe, WIPO, Nuclear Energy International Agency, World Health Organisation (WHO), U.N. Human Rights sector, European Union and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO); special adviser for Bioethics to the Secretary General, Council of Europe, where he drafted the European Convention on Biomedicine and Human Rights, created the European Conference of National Ethics Committees and set up a bioethics and health programme for Eastern and Central European countries.
Amongst his affiliations, he is member of the Executive Board of the French Committee for Comparative Law, of the French Health Law Society and of the French Committee for UNESCO (member of the bureau of the sub-committee for social sciences); he is founding member of the International Association of Bioethics. He is General Editor of the International Journal of Bioethics, a quarterly bilingual (French, English) published since 1990, and he is member of the editorial board of numerous reviews in international law, health law, human rights and bioethics. He is Associate Researcher in different European Union Projects on Bioethics and Biotechnology as well as consulting expert for the Council of Europe, the European Union and WHO.
Professor John Wyatt
Professor of Neonatal Paediatrics, University College London
Speaking on: PGD - medical developments and social perspectives.
John Wyatt is Professor of Neonatal Paediatrics at University College London and a Consultant Neonatologist at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, an internationally-recognised tertiary centre for the care of the newborn. He is a member of a multidisciplinary research team investigating the mechanisms, consequences and prevention of perinatal brain injury. He has supervised a range of research projects including the use of new methods of optical brain scanning in babies both before and after birth. He was co-Principal Investigator for the first major international clinical research trial of head cooling treatment for newborn babies and leads a major prospective follow-up study of preterm and brain-injured infants. He has a long-standing interest in the ethical and social implications of advances in biomedical technology and is currently collaborating with colleagues at UCL in the creation of an academic centre to address these issues.
Dr. Chris O’Toole
Head of Research Regulation, Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority
Chris O’Toole joined the HFEA in November 1999 initially as a Regulatory Manager, then as a Policy Manager before taking up the post of Head of Research Regulation in April 2004. Chris has a B.Sc. (Hons) in Biochemistry from King’s College, London and a PhD in Cell Biology from the University of North London. Prior to joining the HFEA Chris worked as a post-doctoral research scientist, at King’s College, London and then at Tufts University, Boston, USA. Her post doctoral studies focused on the cell biology of acrosomal exocytosis in spermatozoa.
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