一对地贫夫妇的健康宝宝

时间:2022-12-23 16:07来自:未知

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5月8日为“世界地贫日”。

很多地贫夫妻都面临一个“世纪难题”:同是“地贫”者就必须分手或引产吗?

地贫基因携带者夫妇陈芳(化名)和杨刚(化名)的故事或许可以提供一个答案。

查出地贫后还能生出健康宝宝吗?

去年10月,陈芳在北京大学深圳医院诞下一名健康女宝宝,一家其乐融融。回想起一年前结婚、备孕的心酸,她和丈夫对新生命的加入感慨万千。

2020年,两位年轻人正准备步入婚姻殿堂时,在婚检中发现了彼此都是α地贫基因杂合缺失(--SEA/aa)的“地贫患者”,生育中重度地贫儿的几率较高。

这让他们陷入迷茫,究竟怎么样才能生育健康宝宝且阻断地贫基因遗传呢?他们带着疑问走进了北京大学深圳医院生殖医学中心求医。

“如果以上两个人结婚,不加干预地自然怀孕,则其后代1/4机率为重度地中海贫血患者,1/2机率为α地中海贫血携带者,1/4机率不携带地贫突变基因。因而自然怀孕生育健康宝宝的概率为3/4。”生殖医学中心主任钱卫平解释。

地中海贫血,在医学上被称为珠蛋白合成障碍性贫血。其中,红细胞是人体内输送氧气、输出二氧化碳的“运输队”,“珠蛋白”是运输队的“中坚力量”。地贫患者是一类“珠蛋白”基因缺失或者突变了,那么“运输队”功能也会出现障碍,导致人出现贫血等问题。

该疾病因大多发生于地中海沿岸国家,而获“地中海贫血”命名。地贫是全球分布最广、积累人群最多的一种单基因遗传病。

地中海贫血为何需要警惕?因为地贫是会遗传的,以α和β地中海贫血较为常见。当一个人不能产生足够的血红蛋白α链时,将出现α地中海贫血症;当一个人不能产生足够的血红蛋白β链时,将出现β地中海贫血症。按临床症状又分为轻中重度。

目前,地贫尚无药物和成熟的基因治疗方法。一般来说,地贫基因携带者无需特殊治疗,中重型地贫患者需要定期输血和排铁治疗维持生命。

“总体来说,长期输血和除铁治疗费用高,一般家庭承担不起,且可能重度地贫儿寿命并不长;再者,造血干细胞移植是目前可能治愈重型β地贫的方法,人类白细胞抗原(HLA)全相合的地贫移植成功率高。近年来,地贫移植技术较成熟的医疗机构开展的半相合地贫移植也有较高的成功率,但治疗费用昂贵,移植后并发症多,有5%-10%的失败风险。”钱卫平介绍。

第三代试管婴儿技术阻断“地贫”基因

要如何帮助他们阻断、避免生育地贫儿呢?

因为夫妻都是地贫基因携带者,生育健康宝宝几率较小,钱卫平是通过胚胎种植前遗传学诊断技术(PGT,俗称“第三代试管婴儿技术”)来帮助他们。

一对地贫夫妇的健康宝宝

Medical staff put clothes on the newborn test-tube baby at a hospital in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi province. [Photo/Xinhua]

Prediction for IQ is not good enough to give a reliable ranking, but Hsu said that knowing an embryo has a low score could still be desirable.

智商预测目前还不足以给出可靠的评分,但徐道辉表示,如果一个胚胎的智商评分较低,人们可能还是很想知道。

“Maybe the bottom 1% embryo will grow up to be a great person … even be a scientist, but the odds are against it,” he said. “I honestly feel if we can calculate that score and find a real negative outlier there’s an ethical responsibility for us to report that.”

徐道辉说:“也许评分最低的1%的胚胎长大后会成为一个优秀的人……甚至成为一名科学家,但这种可能性很小。我真的觉得,如果我们能计算出这个评分,发现它低得十分异常,那么我们就有道德责任予以告知。”

The company projects that once high-quality genetic and academic achievement data from a million individuals becomes available, expected to be within five to 10 years, it will be able to predict IQ to within about 10 points.

该公司预计,在5至10年内,一旦100万人的高质量基因和学术成就数据可用,它将能够预测智商,误差在10分以内。

Hsu is reticent about whether screening for high intelligence would be ethically justified, saying: “Let me just decline to answer that at the moment.”

徐道辉不愿评论高智商筛查是否符合伦理标准,说“目前我拒绝回答这个问题”。

reticent ['rets()nt]:adj.沉默的;有保留的

In some countries, such as Singapore, there is likely to be a high level of public acceptance and demand for such tests, he suggested. “I think the overwhelming majority would say yes, absolutely, parents should be allowed to do that,” he said. “Before you write your piece, you might just want to think that a billion people on the other side of the world might have a different view.”

徐道辉说,在一些国家,比如新加坡,公众对此类检测的接受度和需求可能会很高。他说:“我认为绝大多数人肯定会赞成允许父母这样做。在你写这篇报道之前,也许应该想想地球另外一端的10亿人可能有不同的看法。”

Whether such tests will become available in the UK would depend on approval from the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA).

这种检测方法能否在英国实施将取决于英国人工授精与胚胎学管理局的批准。

“If the HFEA decides that it’s not right for the UK, I will respect that,” Hsu said, but predicted that “rich people from the UK will fly to Singapore” if they are unable to get the tests locally.

他说:“如果英国人工授精与胚胎学管理局认为这对英国不合适,我会尊重这个决定。”但他预测,如果英国富人无法在当地进行这项检测,“他们会飞到新加坡去做的。”

Some in the UK take the view that prospective parents have a right to access such tests. “I don’t think people should be deprived of that knowledge,” said Prof Simon Fishel, the founder of Care Fertility.

在英国,一些人认为未来的父母有权进行此类检测。生育关怀组织的创始人西蒙费舍尔教授说:“我认为不应该剥夺人们的这种知情权。”

Fishel questioned whether there is any ethical difference between picking an embryo ranked highest for IQ or sending a child to a private school. “What’s wrong with ranking an embryo if you can rank a child?” he said. “I think there are plenty of people who’d choose embryo Oxford [rather] than embryo A-level failure.”

费舍尔质疑挑选智商最高的胚胎和送孩子去私立学校之间是否存在伦理上的差异。“如果你能给孩子评分,那给胚胎评分又有什么错呢?”他说。“我认为有很多人会选择未来能考取牛津的胚胎而不是无法通过英国中学高级水平考试的胚胎。”

In practice, though, couples often have only a few embryos to choose from. And there are concerns about unintended consequences. For instance, there is some evidence linking higher polygenic scores for academic ability to higher likelihood of autism.

但实际上,夫妇们通常只有几个胚胎可供选择。此外,人们还担心会出现意想不到的后果。例如,有证据表明,学术能力的多基因得分越高,患自闭症的可能性就越大。

The technology is controversial, but that does not mean it will not gain acceptance in the future, Hsu said, drawing parallels with the reaction to IVF in its early days.

徐道辉说,这项技术存在争议,但这并不意味着它在未来不会被接受,这与早期人们对体外受精的反应类似。

“The IVF pioneers … were called monsters, Frankenstein doctors; it was predicted that these babies would have health problems,” he said. “I am actually reassured by that. IVF is completely normalized now. Everyone who is pointing their finger at [Genomic Prediction] now should go back and read those articles.”

他说:“试管婴儿的先驱被称为怪物,弗兰肯斯坦医生。当时人们预测这些婴儿会有健康问题。实际上,我对此很放心。试管受精现在已经完全正常化。现在,所有指责(基因组预测)的人都应该回去读读那些文章。”

来源:卫报、参考消息网

翻译编辑:yaning

来源:中国日报网

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