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Latham KE. Preimplantation genetic testing: A remarkable history of pioneering, technical challenges, innovations, and ethical considerations. Mol Reprod Dev 2024; 91:e23727. [PMID: 38282313 DOI: 10.1002/mrd.23727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2024]
Abstract
Preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) has emerged as a powerful companion to assisted reproduction technologies. The origins and history of PGT are reviewed here, along with descriptions of advances in molecular assays and sampling methods, their capabilities, and their applications in preventing genetic diseases and enhancing pregnancy outcomes. Additionally, the potential for increasing accuracy and genome coverage is considered, as well as some of the emerging ethical and legislative considerations related to the expanding capabilities of PGT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keith E Latham
- Department of Animal Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
- Reproductive and Developmental Sciences Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
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Serpico D. A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Idealisations and the aims of polygenic scores. STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 2023; 102:72-83. [PMID: 37907020 DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsa.2023.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Revised: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/07/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
Research in pharmacogenomics and precision medicine has recently introduced the concept of Polygenic Scores (PGSs), namely, indexes that aggregate the effects that many genetic variants are predicted to have on individual disease risk. The popularity of PGSs is increasing rapidly, but surprisingly little attention has been paid to the idealisations they make about phenotypic development. Indeed, PGSs rely on quantitative genetics models and methods, which involve considerable theoretical assumptions that have been questioned on various grounds. This comes with epistemological and ethical concerns about the use of PGSs in clinical decision-making. In this paper, I investigate to what extent idealisations in genetics models can impact the data gathering and clinical interpretation of genomics findings, particularly the calculation and predictive accuracy of PGSs. Although idealisations are considered ineliminable components of scientific models, they may be legitimate or not depending on the epistemic aims of a model. I thus analyse how various idealisations have been introduced in classical models and progressively readapted throughout the history of genetic theorising. Notably, this process involved important changes in the epistemic purpose of such idealisations, which raises the question of whether they are legitimate in the context of contemporary genomics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Serpico
- Department of Economics and Management, University of Trento, Via Vigilio Inama 5, 38122, Trento, Italy; Interdisciplinary Centre for Ethics & Institute of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, Grodzka 52, 31-044 Kraków, Poland.
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Translational Bioinformatics for Human Reproductive Biology Research: Examples, Opportunities and Challenges for a Future Reproductive Medicine. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 24:ijms24010004. [PMID: 36613446 PMCID: PMC9819745 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24010004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Revised: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Since 1978, with the first IVF (in vitro fertilization) baby birth in Manchester (England), more than eight million IVF babies have been born throughout the world, and many new techniques and discoveries have emerged in reproductive medicine. To summarize the modern technology and progress in reproductive medicine, all scientific papers related to reproductive medicine, especially papers related to reproductive translational medicine, were fully searched, manually curated and reviewed. Results indicated whether male reproductive medicine or female reproductive medicine all have made significant progress, and their markers have experienced the progress from karyotype analysis to single-cell omics. However, due to the lack of comprehensive databases, especially databases collecting risk exposures, disease markers and models, prevention drugs and effective treatment methods, the application of the latest precision medicine technologies and methods in reproductive medicine is limited.
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Widen E, Lello L, Raben TG, Tellier LCAM, Hsu SDH. Polygenic Health Index, General Health, and Pleiotropy: Sibling Analysis and Disease Risk Reduction. Sci Rep 2022; 12:18173. [PMID: 36307513 PMCID: PMC9616929 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22637-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
We construct a polygenic health index as a weighted sum of polygenic risk scores for 20 major disease conditions, including, e.g., coronary artery disease, type 1 and 2 diabetes, schizophrenia, etc. Individual weights are determined by population-level estimates of impact on life expectancy. We validate this index in odds ratios and selection experiments using unrelated individuals and siblings (pairs and trios) from the UK Biobank. Individuals with higher index scores have decreased disease risk across almost all 20 diseases (no significant risk increases), and longer calculated life expectancy. When estimated Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) are used as the performance metric, the gain from selection among ten individuals (highest index score vs average) is found to be roughly 4 DALYs. We find no statistical evidence for antagonistic trade-offs in risk reduction across these diseases. Correlations between genetic disease risks are found to be mostly positive and generally mild. These results have important implications for public health and also for fundamental issues such as pleiotropy and genetic architecture of human disease conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik Widen
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, 567 Wilson Rd, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA. .,Genomic Prediction, Inc., 671 US Highway One, North Brunswick, NJ, 08902, USA.
| | - Louis Lello
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, 567 Wilson Rd, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA. .,Genomic Prediction, Inc., 671 US Highway One, North Brunswick, NJ, 08902, USA.
| | - Timothy G Raben
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, 567 Wilson Rd, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
| | - Laurent C A M Tellier
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, 567 Wilson Rd, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.,Genomic Prediction, Inc., 671 US Highway One, North Brunswick, NJ, 08902, USA
| | - Stephen D H Hsu
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, 567 Wilson Rd, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.,Genomic Prediction, Inc., 671 US Highway One, North Brunswick, NJ, 08902, USA
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Clarke AJ, van El CG. Genomics and justice: mitigating the potential harms and inequities that arise from the implementation of genomics in medicine. Hum Genet 2022; 141:1099-1107. [PMID: 35412078 PMCID: PMC9160156 DOI: 10.1007/s00439-022-02453-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 04/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Advances in human genetics raise many social and ethical issues. The application of genomic technologies to healthcare has raised many questions at the level of the individual and the family, about conflicts of interest among professionals, and about the limitations of genomic testing. In this paper, we attend to broader questions of social justice, such as how the implementation of genomics within healthcare could exacerbate pre-existing inequities or the discrimination against social groups. By anticipating these potential problems, we hope to minimise their impact. We group the issues to address into six categories: (i) access to healthcare in general, not specific to genetics. This ranges from healthcare insurance to personal behaviours. (ii) data management and societal discrimination against groups on the basis of genetics. (iii) epigenetics research recognises how early life exposure to stress, including malnutrition and social deprivation, can lead to ill health in adult life and further social disadvantage. (iv) psychiatric genomics and the genetics of IQ may address important questions of therapeutics but could also be used to disadvantage specific social or ethnic groups. (v) complex diseases are influenced by many factors, including genetic polymorphisms of individually small effect. A focus on these polygenic influences distracts from environmental factors that are more open to effective interventions. (vi) population genomic screening aims to support couples making decisions about reproduction. However, this remains a highly contentious area. We need to maintain a careful balance of the competing social and ethical tensions as the technology continues to develop.
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Affiliation(s)
- A J Clarke
- Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Wales, UK.
| | - C G van El
- Department of Human Genetics and Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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