For the first time, WA health authorities have allowed embryos to be screened to reduce the chance of a high-risk family having a child with autism. The Reproductive Technology Council approved the application for a fertility clinic to do a pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD, to screen for autism.
There are no genetic tests for autism, so instead of looking for a gene mutation, the screening identifies the embryo’s sex because boys are at least four times more likely to develop autism. It is a new frontier in embryo screening because, unlike other conditions with a distinct genetic basis, autism is believed to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
Read the full, original story here: Baby sex checks for autism
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