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Embryo screening

Update German view of genetic testing

Nature volume 510, page 473 (2014)Cite this article

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There has been scant public discussion about genetic screening of embryos in Germany, presumably because of a residual suspicion of genetic diagnostics after the sinister history of Nazi eugenics. To rectify this and to remove ideological preconceptions, the Leopoldina, Germany's national academy of sciences, set up an interdisciplinary panel of experts last year to discuss the ethical implications of genetic diagnostics (see go.nature.com/gzmhpe; in German).

The panel agreed that adequate genetic counselling is paramount, that personal freedom and human dignity must be preserved, and that a third party should not be allowed to decide the fate of an embryo that tests positive for a severe genetic disease.

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  1. University of Bonn, Germany

    Peter Propping & Heinz Schott

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  1. Peter Propping
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  2. Heinz Schott
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Correspondence to Peter Propping.

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Propping, P., Schott, H. Update German view of genetic testing. Nature 510, 473 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/510473d

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  1. Norman Morgan

    People, please read up on the subject before you think you know everything by reading one nature article. There are companies that are trying to reproduce livers and kidneys. If you really care research Advanced Cell Technology(ACTC.OB) a company that has a process to extract stem cell from the embryos without doing any harm the embryos. These are American companies that are playing catch up after the Bush years denied American companies for eight years. Do just read blindly and remember, "Innovation is an Our Strength" and one of the primary keys to our survival.

    masini:web

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