The Pros And Cons Of Saviour Siblings

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‘Saviour siblings’ are brothers and sisters, conceived in a petri dish and specifically selected, who have the capability to save the lives of existing ill siblings by donating needed biological material such as bone marrow. Saviour siblings are primarily created to treat and/or cure diseases passed down from the parents of the ill child, diseases known as genetic diseases/disorders. A number of genetic diseases, such as Fanconi anaemia , have limited treatment options that involve complex technology such as stem cell therapy and when donor searches are unsuccessful often the only option an ill child has is the creation of a saviour sibling. How and why saviour siblings are created is a very controversial topic that raises ethical questions. …show more content…

Most often saviour siblings are created when an existing child suffers from a genetic disease/disorder. Genes are responsible for the synthesis of proteins and proteins are the molecules that ultimately determine the structure of each body cell and that carry out vital life functions. Genetic diseases result from mutations in an individual’s DNA; when a gene is mutated and the protein produced can no longer carry out its normal function (or no protein is produced at all), a disorder or disease can result (Pearce, 2011). Genetic diseases are inherited when mutations occur in the germ cells/gametes – the cell involved in passing genetic information from generation to generation (U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2018). Mutations can also occur in the DNA of somatic cells, also resulting in genetic diseases. Examples of genetic diseases that can be inherited are cystic fibrosis or Fanconi anaemia; an example of a genetic disease that is not inherited is …show more content…

Dr Maggie Pearce says, “The only real option right now to fix genetic diseases is to use gene therapy. In gene therapy, the "good" version of a gene is introduced into a patient's DNA. The hope is that this healthy copy of the gene will overcome the problems of the disease version.” Treatment of genetic diseases does not aim to eliminate the mutated gene from each cell but rather introduces a correctly functioning version of the gene or counteracts the defect caused by the muted gene (Pearce,

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