When I was doing research in a genetics lab during my undergrad I constantly heard about the benefits of doing science for the sake of science.  I believed in this principle and never questioned it.  Last week, after a Genome British Columbia forum in Vancouver, I began questioning this statement.

Dr. Carl Douglas answering questions at a Genome BC forum

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The media is trumpeting the coming of a pre-natal test for autism.

Simon Baron-Cohen, developmental psychologist and author of the article on which all this hype is based, said that his research is about finding the cause of autism and is not motivated by developing a pre-natal test for autism.

Doesn’t one follow from the other? Regardless of Baron-Cohen’s research motivations, he has no control over the implications of his findings.

A story in Nature today looks at Baron-Cohen’s controversial ‘extreme male brain’ theory of autism, and highlights the opposition from the scientific community.

Another story in the Guardian questions the reliability and safety of such a test, if it were ever developed.

This touches on yesterday’s post about designer babies.

The tools to design are being crafted faster than anyone could imagine.

New research has linked high levels of testosterone in amniotic fluid, the liquid the bathes the fetus, to autism.

Sarah Boseley, health editor at the Guardian, said how it could be used as a pre-natal test for autism in an interview today.

It’s well worth 2:38 of your time. Boseley also squeezes in a few interesting subtleties that could be missed by such a test.

Designer babies have hit a new milestone—they can come breast cancer-free.

Well, not exactly.

A British baby girl has been born without the BRCA1 gene that is linked to breast cancer. That in itself is not special, however, the embryo she grew from was specially selected for because it didn’t have the defective BRCA1 gene.

Her story made headlines and raised concerns about designer babies. As always, people are asking (or are afraid to ask), what’s next? (more…)