Scientists: Prepare for 1 child with 32 'dads'
'Methods of procreation that have never been possible' on horizon
Published: 10 hours ago
Scientists are perfecting a technique that may allow for the creation of a single child with the DNA of 32 parents.
A process called in vitro gametogenesis has bio-ethicists worried about the societal fallout when “multiplex parenting” and “solo IVG” become commonplace. In short, doctors will use DNA extraction to create a child from a “clan” seeking to procreate, or from a single parent.
Experiments with mice have yielded impressive results, and research into human cells is promising enough to have bio-ethicists debating the technology now. The issue was covered this week in Oxford’s Journal of Law and the Biosciences.
“In some ways, this technology is just another method to allow infertile individuals to have genetically related children. In other words, it is one of many forms of assisted reproductive technology. On the other hand, it potentially allows for methods of procreation that have never been possible before,” wrote George Washington University professor Sonia Suter on Thursday.
“With IVG, same-sex couples may be able to have children who are biologically related to both of them. In addition, IVG could facilitate ‘multiplex’ parenting, where groups of more than two individuals (whether all male, all female, or a combination) procreate together, producing children who are the genetic progeny of them all. And finally, single individuals may be able to procreate without the genetic contribution of another individual, what I refer to as ‘solo IVG.’ IVG also presents the possibility of ‘perfecting reproduction’ by greatly improving the ability to screen for undesirable diseases or even traits.”
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Suter acknowledges that screening for “undesirable” traits also raises the specter of eugenics, but then says IVG is not “inherently threatening and problematic.”
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Researchers say IVG would be beneficial to those who cannot reproduce due to disease, injury, surgery or cancer treatments. They say the technique would also be an asset to women who enter menopause early.
IVG would also be sought by homosexual men who are not inclined to artificially inseminate a surrogate, lesbians and “single individuals who do not wish to reproduce via a sexual relationship.”
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Reaction to the new technology was overwhelmingly negative with Daily Mail readers on Friday.
“You cannot act like God and expect no repercussion, the end time is surely near. Just look at what is happening around us. God have mercy on us all,” said one user.
“The only natural and moral way for a child to be conceived and raised is by a man and a woman. That was nature’s design,” wrote Tom from Yorkshire.
“Child-support nightmare,” added Leah Wilson from Ballarat, Australia.
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Scientists say in vitro gametogenesis, or IVG, would allow for the creation of same-sex group parenting. One child could be created with the DNA of 32 men. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, center, is shown here marching with same-sex marriage supporters.
Suter cautioned scientists to move carefully with any techniques capable of “erasing and resetting imprinting patterns to facilitate reproduction,” but ultimately declared, “it is hard to argue that IVG is substantially different from other methods we currently use to treat physical infertility.”
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