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London (pte036/20.06.2003/17:40) - Europe's first 'designer baby', named Jamie, has been born in England, reports BBC online http://www.bbc.co.uk . According to Jamie's parents and doctors, he was selected as an embryo in order to be able to help his four-year-old brother, who is suffering from a rare form of anemia. Jamie's umbilical cord can supply the stem cells for his brother's therapy. Because the genetic selection of an embryo is not allowed in Great Britain, the procedure was carried out in the United States.
Jamie was selected according to genetic characteristics and conceived in a test tube. According to the BBC, Jamie is not the first designer baby in the world. Jamie's doctor, Mohammed Taranissi, says the procedure has been carried out in the US several times and there are at least a dozen parents in Great Britain who would also like to have a designer baby to help a sibling.
Jamie's brother Charlie suffers from a rare and deadly form of anemia that requires regular and painful treatment. The illness can only be cured through the transplantation of stem cells that correspond 100 per cent to his immune system. Jamie's parents told the press they had not selected their child according to eye colour, hair colour or sex, but only genetic characteristics that would help Charlie. Examinations and conception took place at the Reproductive Genetic Institute in Chicago. Taranissi hopes that Jamie and Charlie's case will encourage a public discussion of the issue of genetic selection for health purposes.
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