pandora’s baby

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

PowerPoint® Lectures

Lectures by Chris Romero, Front Range Community College

Pandora’s BabyPandora’s Baby

Current Issues in Biology, Volume 1

Scientific American


Pandora’s Baby

• In vitro fertilization (IVF) has led to the birth of an estimated one million babies worldwide.

• When it was first carried out, many people felt that it was a threat to humanity.

• Today cloning is inspiring the same fears.

Concept Review


Pandora’s Baby

• During the process of IVF, a sperm’s package of DNA is injected directly into a human egg.

• Early in its design, IVF was not regulated to any great degree by the government.

• In 1974, federal funding for research on the human embryo, including IVF, was banned.

Concept Review

Louise Brown, born in 1979, was the first “test tube baby” born using IVF.


Pandora’s Baby

• One result of the unregulated nature of IVF is that it took nearly 25 years to recognize the health risks associated with this technique.

• Numerous studies have shown that babies born from IVF are at higher risk of developing birth defects.

- An Australian study showed that IVF babies were twice as likely to have multiple birth defects as naturally conceived babies.

Concept Review


Pandora’s Baby

• Today, in what appears to be an effort to avoid the mistakes made with IVF, the federal government is actively involved in regulating cloning.

• In order to make human cloning illegal, politicians have lumped different types of cloning into one category.

Concept Review


Pandora’s Baby

Concept Review

• Scientists have tried to keep these types of cloning separate:

• “Therapeutic” or “research” cloning, designed to produce embryonic stem cells to treat degenerative diseases.

• “Reproductive” cloning, done specifically to create a cloned human being.


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Concept Review

• Although the medical downsides of IVF are now becoming clear, many of the more extreme predictions about IVF never came to pass.

• Human cloning may also turn out to be less frightening.

• The history of IVF reveals the pitfalls facing cloning if decision making is avoided.


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A “test tube baby” is produced through the process of

a) in vivo fertilization. b) in vitro fertilization.

c) therapeutic cloning.d) reproductive cloning.

Testing Your Comprehension


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A “test tube baby” is produced through the process of

b) in vitro fertilization.


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The type cloning that intends to produce embryonic stem cells is called

a) therapeutic cloning. b) reproductive cloning.

c) in vitro cloning.d) in vivo cloning.


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The type cloning that intends to produce embryonic stem cells is called

a) therapeutic cloning.


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The type cloning that intends to produce a new living human is called

a) therapeutic cloning. b) reproductive cloning.

c) in vitro cloning.d) in vivo cloning.


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The type cloning that intends to produce a new living human is called

b) reproductive cloning.


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Which of the following statements about the safety of IVF is most correct?

a) No convincing data has ever been collected indicating that IVF babies have increased health risk.b) Since research began, it was clear that IVF babies have a small but significant increased health risk.c) Recent evidence suggests that IVF babies do have increased risk of low birth weight. d) Recent studies find increased risks of IVF babies include low birth weight and major birth defects.



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Which of the following statements about the safety of IVF is most correct?

d) Recent studies find increased risks of IVF babies include low birth weight and major birth defects.


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React to the following statement: Insurance companies should pay for infertile couples to have an IVF procedure.

Biology In Society

StronglyAgree

StronglyDisagree

A. E.C.B. D.


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Biology In Society

React to the following statement: I believe that all human cloning should be banned.

StronglyAgree

StronglyDisagree

A. E.C.B. D.


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Thinking About Science

How might the procedures of human gene therapy and human therapeutic cloning be combined to cure a childborn with a hereditary immune defect? Design a series ofhypothetical procedures that might be effective.


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Interpreting Data and Graphs

A 2002 study compared the birth weights of 42,000 births conceived through assisted reproductive technology, including IVF, with three million babies conceived naturally. The study found that the “test tube babies” were two and a half times more likely to have low birth weights. From this data, what can you conclude about the effects of assisted reproductive technologies?

pandora’s baby

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