Genetic screening has given dozens of New Zealanders peace of mind that they will not be passing inherited diseases onto their children.
And now following the success with diseases that babies are born with, Otago University's Human Genome Project is recommending a wider use for genetic screening, including illnesses that that occur later in life.
"We recommend that it should be able to be used for late onset conditions," Professor Mark Henaghan from the Otago University Human Genome Project says. "In some families there's a strong history of having breast cancer in your 40s or 50s, we believe that people who have had those in their families should be able to use PGD to eliminate that for future children."
But as the use of genetic screening grows, so do the ethical concerns which have polarised public opinion.
"There is an argument that we are saying something about their disability, and that we are saying that this is a terrible thing," Professor Henaghan says. "And to a certain extent we are. That's the strongest objection to this process."
Professor Henaghan says most opponents of genetic screening say no one should ever make any choices with any embryos and there are concerns that the technology will eventually be used to screen out all disabilities.
"In my view on that is that we should be sympathetic to those conditions," he says. "But just to not have that condition we're saying we'll give that person a choice. Saying we'd rather have a baby that didn't have that condition rather than have it."
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