title: Choosing among possible persons: The ethics of prenatal selection in the postgenomic age.
abstract: The "spectre of eugenics" is often raised about various current reproductive practices that imply a form of choice between future possible persons. Some of these practices are linked to genetic technologies such as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, others merely entail the choice of a procreator having specific traits, such as in artificial insemination with donor. The weight and limits of this reproof of eugenics are examined, with special attention to the conceptual problems resulting from confusing choices involving virtual persons with the selection of existing persons.
authors.affiliation: Faculté de médecine, Université de Genève, Institut Éthique Histoire Humanités, Centre médical universitaire, 1, rue Michel-Servet, 1211, Genève 4, Switzerland. Electronic address: alexandre.mauron@unige.ch.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mauron
mesh_terms: D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005053:Eugenics; D005260:Female; D005820:Genetic Testing / Q000941:ethics*; D006801:Humans; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods
keywords: Diagnostic préimplantatoire; Ethics and reproduction; Eugenics; Eugénisme; Pre-implantation genetics; Prenatal selection; Sélection prénatale; Éthique et procréation