Amid Outcry, Doc Backs Off Designer Babies

Clinic will only screen embryos for disease, genetic disorders
By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 4, 2009 9:40 AM CST
Amid Outcry, Doc Backs Off Designer Babies
In genetics screening, some DNA is extracted from fertilized embryos like this one, and checked for markers that indicate the presence of genetic diseases%u2014or preferred eye color.   (Getty Images)

After backlash from doctors, ethicists, and the public, a fertility clinic that had promised parents the option to choose certain traits for their new babies has changed its claim slightly. “We’re going to limit it to people with genetic diseases because we just cannot keep up with what’s going on,” a clinic doctor tells the New York Daily News. (More designer baby stories.)

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