The technology has penetrated its roots even to the arena of human reproduction. The genetic tests during in vitro fertilization are escalating. Now humans can even interfere in the nature’s process of propagation. Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is an umbrella term used for a number of tests that could be performed on a fetus before it is implanted into the mother’s womb. Presently, there is no such law in the US that would govern the use of PGD so the doctors, clinicians and their ethical-review boards are called on to make complex ethical decisions, for instance, if parents can choose the sex of their baby for non-medical reasons or be allowed to screen embryos for diseases that they may never develop or that may only strike late in life. Vardit Ravitsky, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania says, ‘the sense in the bioethics community is that the PGD tests are very appropriate–using a new technology for the ultimate medical goal of preventing suffering.’ When asked whether biologically altering an embryo is different from socially altering a child, she said that ‘although there are significant differences between educationally and genetically shaping the identities of children, in many ways they are similar. I’m a strong believer in genetics, but you can never reduce human talent to genetics.’ She further said that there is no difference in giving medical care to the children and producing better genetically equipped kids by choosing personality traits of the children. On the other hand, people asserted that this would modify the rapport between them and their progeny. While others said that by controlling their identities, they would reduce them to mere commodities.
