Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Centre for Biomedical Ethics and Law, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Laboratory for Cytogenetics and Genome Research, Department of Human Genetics, Centre for Human Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
BMC Med Ethics. 2021 Sep 18;22(1):125. doi: 10.1186/s12910-021-00694-4.
Current preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) technologies enable embryo genotyping across the whole genome. This has led to the development of polygenic risk scoring of human embryos (PGT-P). Recent implementation of PGT-P, including screening for intelligence, has been extensively covered by media reports, raising major controversy. Considering the increasing demand for assisted reproduction, we evaluated how information about PGT-P is communicated in press media and explored the diversity of ethical themes present in the public debate.
LexisNexis Academic database and Google News were searched to identify articles about polygenic embryo screening. This led to 535 news articles. 59 original articles met the inclusion criteria. Inductive content analysis was used to analyse these articles.
8.8% of articles gave embryo polygenic scoring a positive portrayal, while 36.8% expressed a negative attitude. 54.4% were neutral, mostly highlighting limited practical value of the technology in in vitro fertilization settings. We identified five main ethical themes that are also present in academic literature and the broader debate on reproductive technologies: a slippery slope towards designer babies, well-being of the child and parents, impact on society, deliberate choice and societal readiness.
Implementation of embryo polygenic profiling engenders a need for specific recommendations. Current media analysis discloses important ethical themes to consider when creating future guidelines for PGT-P.
目前的胚胎植入前遗传学检测（PGT）技术能够对整个基因组进行胚胎基因分型。这导致了人类胚胎多基因风险评分（PGT-P）的发展。最近，PGT-P 的实施，包括对智力的筛查，已经被媒体广泛报道，引起了重大争议。考虑到辅助生殖的需求不断增加，我们评估了 PGT-P 的信息在新闻媒体中的传播情况，并探讨了公共辩论中存在的伦理主题的多样性。
通过 LexisNexis Academic 数据库和 Google News 搜索了有关多基因胚胎筛查的文章。这导致了 535 篇新闻文章。符合纳入标准的 59 篇原始文章。采用归纳内容分析法对这些文章进行分析。
8.8%的文章对胚胎多基因评分持积极态度，而 36.8%的文章则持消极态度。54.4%的文章持中立态度，主要强调了该技术在体外受精环境中的实际价值有限。我们确定了五个主要的伦理主题，这些主题也存在于学术文献和更广泛的生殖技术辩论中：朝着设计婴儿的滑坡、儿童和父母的幸福、对社会的影响、刻意选择和社会准备。
胚胎多基因分析的实施需要具体的建议。目前的媒体分析揭示了在制定未来 PGT-P 指南时需要考虑的重要伦理主题。
