Upcoming
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The Lawrence Lader Lecture on Family Planning and Reproductive Rights
Reproductive Genetics: The Science, the Medicine, and the Ethical Challenges
Presenter:
Mark Hughes, Wayne State University
Carl Walter Amphitheater
Tosteson Medical Education Center
Harvard Medical School
12:30 p.m.
Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) combines the technologies of in vitro fertilization (IVF), embryo culture and biopsy, and single-cell molecular genetics. It gives couples at high genetic risk the opportunity to begin a pregnancy with the knowledge that their fetus will be free from the severe inherited disorder that afflicts their family.
For 12 years since the first published cases of PGD, the field has been nurtured slowly and analyzed scientifically by a small group of physician scientists. But over the past 18 months, the demand has exploded for this approach to building a family. This recent trend is driven by several factors: a demographic shift toward people having fewer children and having them later in life--a time when there is increased genetic risk but also greater financial means and foresight to do "genetic family planning"; a tremendous increase in public knowledge of genetic mutations; a desire by parents for their children to avoid any disease that could potentially be passed on to them; and advances in reproductive and genomic technologies that can significantly reduce genetic risks.
This lecture will mesh the biomedical tools of IVF-PGD with the clinical genetic scenarios of desperate couples. The boundaries of testing for diseases vs. traits will be explored with real patient data.
Mark Hughes is professor and director of Molecular Medicine and Genetics at Wayne State University School of Medicine and director of the Genomics Center Hub for the State of Michigan's Life Sciences Corridor. Formerly at the Human Genome Institute at the NIH, his work has centered on understanding gene expression in the early human embryo. He pioneered the field of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) for couples at very high reproductive genetic risk and offers this technology in conjunction with IVF Centers in the U.S. and Canada.
The Lawrence Lader Lectureship on Family Planning and Reproductive Rights at Harvard Medical School was established by a generous gift from advocate and author Lawrence Lader. The Lader Lecture creates an annual public forum to spotlight the broad range of medical, ethical, social, and scientific issues surrounding human reproduction.