BARCELONA, Oct 17 (LSN.ca) – Scientists from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and researchers from the Cefer Institute of Reproduction screened out all the girl embryos for a couple so that only boys were born in order to suppress transmission of the father’s hemophilia. The embryos created through in-vitro fertilization underwent pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (eliminating the girls). Although males cannot pass on hemophilia to their children, girls whose fathers have the disease become carriers.
A Spanish researcher tried to dismiss the fact that they were eliminating baby girl human embryos stating, “We don’t think it is an ethical problem, because we are just selecting the sex. We are dealing with embryos, which are not real human beings, only potential human beings.”
For more see the coverage in the Guardian at: https://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,383551,00.html
(with files from SPUC)