Intellectual property and assisted reproductive technology
By David Cyranoski, Jorge L. Contreras & Victoria T. Carrington,
Nature Biotechnology
| 01. 18. 2023
Stanford bioethicist Henry Greely predicts that a large proportion of human pregnancies — perhaps even 90% in the United States — will one day result from in vitro gametogenesis (IVG), the production of eggs and sperm from undifferentiated human cells1. Whether or not this prediction proves accurate, it is likely that IVG will fundamentally change how humans reproduce. IVG could offer the possibility of reproduction to those experiencing infertility, allow parents to choose from hundreds of genetically characterized embryos, enable relatively safe germline genetic modification, and open the door for same-sex parents to have genetically related offspring. Some assisted reproduction experts, like Jacques Cohen of the ART Institute of Washington, predict that IVG will replace virtually all conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures for those experiencing problems with fertility (J. Cohen, personal communication). Greely suspects that eventually most prospective parents — even those without fertility problems — will opt for IVG to reduce the risk of bearing offspring with genetic defects or to select for desirable traits.
It is not surprising, then, that researchers who are putting together...
Related Articles
By Azeen Ghorayshi and Sarah Kliff, The New York Times | 08.12.2024
An emerging movement against in vitro fertilization is driving some doctors and patients in red states to move or destroy frozen embryos.
The embryo migration is most striking in Alabama, where the State Supreme Court ruled in February that embryos...
By Editorial Staff, The Lancet | 07.20.2024
Image by DrKontogianniIVF from Wikimedia Commons
Despite major advances in securing sexual and reproductive rights globally, one aspect is continually neglected: infertility. Evolving gender norms and financial precariousness have led to delayed childbearing, which increases infertility in both males and...
By Staff, AP-NORC | 07.12.2024
Image by Dr. Jayesh Amin from Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC by-SA 3.0
Most adults support protecting access to in vitro fertilization, or IVF, a type of fertility treatment where eggs are combined with sperm outside the body in a...
By Julia Black and Margaux MacColl, The Information [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 07.19.2024
When venture capitalist Jack Abraham first began dating his wife, Gabriella Massamillo, he insisted on one condition: that when they were ready to have children, she’d be willing to conceive using in vitro fertilization. Abraham had lost both his mother...