Screening embryos for BRCA genes to ensure babies without breast cancer is the subject of much greater controversy. The technique, known as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), has already been used to free babies of inherited disorders such as cystic fibrosis and Huntington’s disease. But breast cancer is different because it does not inevitably affect a child from birth and may or may not develop later in life. There is also a chance that it can be cured, if caught early enough.

Hhmmm..... screen baby to be tall, blonde, and blue-eyed. Do the rich stay richer because their children are defect free?

Potentially mixed ethics here. Wonder where it leads. Both good and bad.

Designer children.

I thought about that too Bobby Rutan. But then I considered a woman I met last summer. A breast cancer survivor and widow of a man whose first wife died of Metastatic breast cancer: the kind that infects the brain. And then I imagined what their lives what have been like without the pain and expense of cancer. I think that genetic manipulation to screen out debilitating and life-threatening diseases is worthwhile. What I don't agree with is exactly your concern: designer children to suit the egos of parents.

Oops that last sentence is poorly worded. I agree with your concern.