New designer baby row

A two-year old British boy has reignited the debate about so-called 'designer babies'. Zain Hashmi has beta thalassaemia major, a rare genetic blood disorder. He has a blood transfusion every four weeks, but doctors have warned that he will die unless a suitable bone marrow donor can be found for him. Thalassaemia affects the production of haemoglobin, the substance in red blood cells that carries oxygen to cells.

None of Zain's siblings or family members is a genetic match, and none has been found on the bone marrow register. Doctors treating Zain, have said that his best chance of survival would mean allowing his parents to use IVF and embryo screening techniques to create a sibling who would be a genetic match. Dr Simon Fishel, from the Park Hospital's Centre for Assisted Reproduction in Nottingham, has agreed to assist the parents and has asked for approval from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to do so.

The HFEA has not had to consider such a case before, although there was one similar last year in America when Adam Nash was conceived to save his sister. The HFEA said it was 'aware of the significance of this case for the family concerned, but we are also aware that this would be a new departure for the applications of these techniques in this country'. The HFEA has to take a number of things into consideration, such as the success rates of IVF procedures, and the fact that Zain's mother is already 37 years old. It has said it will give sympathetic consideration to the issues while being 'aware of the urgency'.