Gene editing has immense potential for basic research; scientists can learn a lot about what genes do by selectively disabling them. Beyond agriculture, gene editing has enormous potential for medicine. It might, for instance, become a much-needed treatment for sickle cell disease.

ABSTRACT: There are many risks involved in genetic engineering. The release of genetically altered organisms in the environment can increase human suffering, decrease animal welfare, and lead to ecological disasters.

Genome editing is a powerful, scientific technology that can reshape medical treatments and people’s lives, but it can also harmfully reduce human diversity and increase social inequality by editing out the kinds of people that medical science, and the society it has shaped, categorize as diseased or genetically …

A lab experiment aimed at fixing defective DNA in human embryos shows what can go wrong with this type of gene editing and why leading scientists say it’s too unsafe to try. In more than half of the cases, the editing caused unintended changes, such as loss of an entire chromosome or big chunks of it.

For example, errors occurring at the time of the second cleavage may result in a greater proportion of abnormal cells than errors occurring during the third cleavage (Spinella et al., 2018). Higher levels of mosaicism may decrease implantation potential and increase the risk of miscarriage.

Mosaicism is caused by an error in cell division very early in the development of the unborn baby. Examples of mosaicism include: Mosaic Down syndrome. Mosaic Klinefelter syndrome. Mosaic Turner syndrome.

Such mosaic mutations were thought to be fairly rare, but according to a study published today (June 5) in The American Journal of Human Genetics, they may contribute to as much as 6.5 percent of an individual’s genomic variation.

PGT-A may also be helpful when a patient has excess embryos they plan to store for future use. Since embryos with aneuploidy are more likely to result in a failed IVF cycle or miscarriage, PGT-A provides additional information about the reproductive potential of those embryos.

Accuracy is ~98%: There is a chance for a false positive or false negative result. Prenatal diagnostic testing (amniocentesis or CVS) is recommended to confirm the results of PGT-A.

PGT-A (Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy) also known as PGS (Preimplantation Genetic Screening) is a genetic test that allows the determination of the chromosomal status of IVF embryos by screening all 23 pairs of human chromosomes.

PGT can test for numerical chromosomal abnormalities such as Down’s syndrome, trisomies (having an extra chromosome), sex chromosomal abnormalities, monosomies (missing a chromosome) and single gene disorders such as cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, and many others.

The latest analysis of around 200 eggs from 41 couples has proven that it is a reliable method for picking up genetic problems.

This is the process of a couple or individual choosing the genetic sex of the child, boy or girl, by testing the embryo(s) created through IVF before one is implanted in the uterus. Sex selection is only possible using IVF embryos. The term sex selection is preferable to the past term of gender selection.

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a technology that can be performed in conjunction with IVF to avoid passing a particular genetic condition on to the next generation. We know that when parents have one child with ASD, their risk of having a second child with ASD is 3-10% (depending on the sex of the child).

IVF Children May Have Higher Odds of Autism: Study. THURSDAY, March 19, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Children conceived through assisted reproductive technology, such as in vitro fertilization, are twice as likely to have autism as those conceived without assistance, a new study finds.

How intelligent are IVF children? A recent Danish study* examining the academic performance in children conceived by assisted reproductive techniques (ART) confirmed that ART-born children are just as intelligent as their spontaneously conceived peers – not super kids, but certainly not worse off.

Careful collection: Based on data from 192 pairs of twins, the new study found a concordance rate for autism spectrum disorders of 77 percent among identical twin boys and 31 percent among fraternal twin boys.

For instance, autism rates are higher among children born to dads older than 50. Genetic mutations in sperm increase as men age. This may help explain the higher risk. Also, women in their forties are slightly more likely to have a child with ASD.

Adults with the condition and learning disabilities died more than 30 years earlier than people without autism at an average age of 39.5 years. Adults with autism and without a learning disability died on average 12 years earlier, at 58.

Goldsmiths, University of London researchers working with adults recently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder have found high rates of depression, low employment, and an apparent worsening of some ASD traits as people age.

Abstract. Some children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) exhibit low mental age (Low-MA; i.e., cognitive functioning below 12 months). We examined diagnosis, symptom severity, and development in children with ASD-low MA (n = 25), autistic disorder (n = 111), and PDD-NOS (n = 82) at ages two and four.

People with Asperger syndrome usually have milder symptoms of autistic disorder. They might have social challenges and unusual behaviors and interests. However, they typically do not have problems with language or intellectual disability.

Recovery in autistic disorder is rare. There are few reports of recovery from autistic disorder after a few years of therapeutic intervention. We report here a case of autistic disorder who recovered spontaneously without any intervention in 13 days.

We know that there’s no one cause of autism. Research suggests that autism develops from a combination of genetic and nongenetic, or environmental, influences. These influences appear to increase the risk that a child will develop autism.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can look different in different people. It’s a developmental disability that affects the way people communicate, behave, or interact with others. There’s no single cause for it, and symptoms can be very mild or very severe.

‘ Autism is conventionally regarded as a neurodevelopmental disorder that involves deficits in social interaction and social communication, combined with restricted or repetitive patterns of behavior and interests.