MELBOURNE — Australian doctors have developed a screening test that detects deafness in babies at the embryo stage.
One embryo was found to be carrying two affected genes related to deafness, five carried one deafness gene and one was clear. The “clear” embryo was selected for transfer into the mother but she was not successfully impregnated. The doomed carrier embryos, which had been frozen, were then used but without success. All seven embryos were thus destroyed but the screening test was a success.
Victoria's Infertility Treatment Authority authorized researchers to apply the test to 7 artificially conceived embryos, and revealed their findings at the International Genetics Congress in Melbourne this week.
(This update courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.)
