The ethics of using genetic engineering for sex selection
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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Accurate and Phenol Free DNA Sexing of Day 30 Porcine Embryos by PCR
Published on: February 14, 2016
1624 N Broadway, Floor 3, Phoebe R Berman Bioethics Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. sliao@jhsph.edu
Abstract:
It is quite likely that parents will soon be able to use genetic engineering to select the sex of their child by directly manipulating the sex of an embryo. Some might think that this method would be a more ethical method of sex selection than present technologies such as preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) because, unlike PGD, it does not need to create and destroy "wrong gendered" embryos. This paper argues that those who object to present technologies on the grounds that the embryo is a person are unlikely to be persuaded by this proposal, though for different reasons.
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