Australian experts have raised concerns over an American patent for a method that could allow people to choose genetic traits like eye colour in children sired from donor eggs or sperm.
The patent for what is called a "gamete (egg or sperm) donor selection" method, was granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to the firm 23andMe on September 24.
"What 23andMe is claiming is a method by which prospective donors of ova and/or sperm may be selected so as to increase the likelihood of producing a human baby with characteristics desired by the prospective parents," said the commentary by medical ethicists from Belgium, the Netherlands and France published in the journal Genetics in Medicine.
The new method developed by 23andMe would be based on a computerised comparison of the genomic data of the egg provider with that of the sperm provider.
Characteristics on the parents' "shopping list" could include height, eye colour, muscle development, personality traits, or risk of developing certain types of cancer and other diseases, said the commentators.
Associate Professor Jayne Lucke, Principal Research Fellow at the Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland says the patent is ethically unacceptable.
“The patent granted to 23andMe for "a method of gamete selection" is startling because it seems to explicitly cross the line between the accepted practice of preimplantation genetic diagnosis to eliminate a specific disease risk and a much more controversial idea - the selection of socially desirable traits to custom design a baby".
"The idea of a "baby farm" manufacturing babies on demand for customers with no emotional or biological connection to the gametes or the resulting child is clearly unacceptable," she added.
"But where should we draw the line between methods for disease prevention and those seeking to enhance future children with the "right" characteristics, whatever they may be?”
Associate Professor Luk Rombauts, Research Director at Monash IVFandHead of Reproductive Medicine at the Monash Medical Centre, says technology is already available to detect a child's predisposition to diseases, and the 23andMe method does not really advance the ability to prevent diseases.
"23andMe will develop a genetic service to screen egg or sperm donors for desirable traits. Egg or sperm donors are already screened for transmittable infectious diseases and for a range of genetic disorders, such as cystic fibrosis.
"Screening more widely for other genetic disorders can make sense, but there is a point where screening becomes futile because many diseases are more likely to be driven by environmental factors rather than by genetic influences".
And he raised the ethical question of how parents perceive their role: cares or creators of a perfect child?
"As an IVF doctor I worry that some seem to forget that the true value in parenting lies not in designing the perfect child (they may disappoint greatly anyway), but to be there, always, for the needs of the child as it comes".
HOW THE NEW METHOD WORKS
A figure attached to the patent application would allow prospective parents to indicate whether "I prefer a child with": "longest expected life span", "least expected life cost of health care", or "least expected cumulative duration of hospitalisation", they said.
There were also options for "0% likely endurance athlete" and "100 % likely sprinter", though the company had stated it could not guarantee the outcome but merely boost the chances of a child having the desired traits. "
At no stage during the examination of the patent application did the patent office examiner question whether techniques for facilitating the 'design' of future human babies were appropriate subject matter for a patent," European bioethicists wrote in the journal Genetics in Medicine.
A 'WAY TO MAKE MORE INFORMED CHOICES'
A description on the USPTO website said the "technique allows the potential gamete recipients to make more informed donor choices".
23forMe said the patent, applied for more than five years ago, was for a tool dubbed Family Traits Inheritance Calculator that offered "an engaging way for you and your partner to see what kind of traits your child might inherit from you" -- from eye colour to whether the child will be able to perceive bitter taste or be lactose intolerant.
The language of the patent was much broader than the technology to support the calculator, the company said in a blog on its website.
"At the time 23andMe filed the patent, there was consideration that the technology could have potential applications for fertility clinics, so language specific to the fertility treatment process was included," it said.
"The company never pursued the concepts discussed in the patent beyond our Family Traits Inheritance Calculator, nor do we have any plans to do so."
