Preimplantation genetic diagnosis after 20 years

Abstract

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) should not be an option only for the few couples at risk of serious genetic conditions who can afford it. We appear to have lost sight of the original driving force behind the development of PGD, which is that most couples who carry a serious genetic disorder find it more acceptable to choose to conceive with healthy embryos tested in-vitro at preimplantation stages of development within the first week following fertilization, even if that means discarding those diagnosed as affected. It has been shown using cystic fibrosis as an example, that the cost savings to the US healthcare system of providing free IVF-PGD to all carrier couples compared to the lifetime costs of medical treatment for patients affected by this disease, run to dozens of billions of dollars. With the increasing emphasis in medicine on early diagnosis and prevention of disease together with the availability of new molecular genetic diagnostic tools, a national IVF-PGD programme seems to be the next step in modern health care.