Op-Ed: UK: PGD for early onset Alzheimer’s disease: Preventing disease…not the cure

April 17, 2007

We are currently planning to help the first British couple have a baby free from the risk of developing early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (EOAD). Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) for this disease, which affects individuals in middle age (40s and 50s) – rather than the more common Alzheimer’s whose effects are suffered considerably later (over 65) – was first carried out five years ago in the US. We anticipate the usual controversy loosely bundled together under the banner of ‘designer babies’. More specifically, objections may include concerns over the severity of the disease, age of onset and treatability. (BioNews)