Will the future children of the world be Alphas? Or Betas? Or Deltas? For a peek in the box of Aldous Huxley's fictional future become reality, have a look below.
O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't.
—William Shakespeare, The Tempest,
Unborn babies could be tested for 3,500 genetic faults
Scientists could soon be able to routinely screen unborn babies for thousands
of genetic conditions, raising concerns the breakthrough could lead to more
abortions.
A team has been able to predict the whole genetic code of a foetus by taking a
blood sample from a woman who was 18 weeks pregnant, and a swab of saliva
from the father.
They believe that, in time, the test will become widely available, enabling
doctors to screen unborn babies for some 3,500 genetic disorders.
At the moment the only genetic disorder routinely tested for on the NHS is
Down’s syndrome.
This is a large-scale genetic defect caused by having an extra copy of a
bundle of DNA, called a chromosome.
Other such faults are sometimes tested for, but usually only when there is a
risk of inheriting them from a parent.
10:51PM BST 06 Jun 2012A team has been able to predict the whole genetic code of a foetus by taking a blood sample from a woman who was 18 weeks pregnant, and a swab of saliva from the father.They believe that, in time, the test will become widely available, enabling doctors to screen unborn babies for some 3,500 genetic disorders.At the moment the only genetic disorder routinely tested for on the NHS is Down’s syndrome.This is a large-scale genetic defect caused by having an extra copy of a bundle of DNA, called a chromosome.Other such faults are sometimes tested for, but usually only when there is a risk of inheriting them from a parent.
