Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) – The effects of limited approval in Germany
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a diagnostic procedure which is thought to allow parents at high risk of having a child with a serious hereditary disease to have a child who is unaffected by the disease. Although PGD has been practiced for approximately 20 years in most European countries, the procedure is widely considered to be illegal in Germany under the 1990 Embryo Protection Act (Embryonenschutzgesetz – ESchG). In a ruling on 6th July 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice argued that a ban on PGD can no longer be inferred from the Embryo Protection Act with the necessary resoluteness. The legislature is now asked to state its position on the question of the legitimacy of PGD.
For this reason, the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften, in cooperation with acatech – Deutsche Akademie der Technikwissenschaften and the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (representing the Union der deutschen Akademien der Wissenschaften), has decided to state its current position on the issue of PGD.