Speaker: Vardit Ravitsky, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of The Hastings Center

Abstract: Recent advances in genetic screening have made the science fiction allure of choosing our children's traits ever more possible. Many parents-to-be alredy screen human embryos derived from in vitro fertilization (IVF) to avoid passing along harmful genetic diseases. However the falling cost of genetic sequencing, along with increased understanding of the genetic basis of many characteristics, fertility clinics are starting to offer couples additional technologies. These allow prospective parents to screen embyos before implantation in the womb, to see how likely each one is to develop conditions or traits that depend on many genes, such as schizophrenia, Crohn's disease, and prospects of educational attainment. Some of these applications are quite controversial. This talk will discuss the ethical challenges raised by these emerging technologies.