Designer Babies Research Articles

Around the World

In science news around the world, scientists rate a Namibian site as the top choice for the southern array of the planned Cherenkov Telescope Array, the Dutch government will take Russia to court over the seizure of a Greenpeace vessel protesting oil drilling in the Arctic, the company 23andMe's "designer baby" patent comes under fire from bioethicists, and more.

“I prefer a child with …”: designer babies, another controversial patent in the arena of direct-to-consumer genomics

“I prefer a child with …”: designer babies, another controversial patent in the arena of direct-to-consumer genomics

The artistic process or the end result?

Hilary White weighs up the importance of aesthetics in children's expressive arts and design, and suggest ways to talk about creativity without judging.

A Study on the Status of the Children Design Creativity Education and Improvement Program

A Study on the Status of the Children Design Creativity Education and Improvement Program

Peer support for parents of children with chronic disabling conditions: a systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies

To review the qualitative and quantitative evidence of the benefits of peer support for parents of children with disabling conditions in the context of health, well-being, impact on family, and economic and service implications. We comprehensively searched multiple databases. Eligible studies evaluated parent-to-parent support and reported on the psychological health and experience of giving or receiving support. There were no limits on the child's condition, study design, language, date, or setting. We sought to aggregate quantitative data; findings of qualitative studies were combined using thematic analysis. Qualitative and quantitative data were brought together in a narrative synthesis. Seventeen papers were included: nine qualitative studies, seven quantitative studies, and one mixed-methods evaluation. Four themes were identified from qualitative studies: (1) shared social identity, (2) learning from the experiences of others, (3) personal growth, and (4) supporting others. Some quantitative studies reported a positive effect of peer support on psychological health and other outcomes; however, this was not consistently confirmed. It was not possible to aggregate data across studies. No costing data were identified. Qualitative studies strongly suggest that parents perceive benefit from peer support programmes, an effect seen across different types of support and conditions. However, quantitative studies provide inconsistent evidence of positive effects. Further research should explore whether this dissonance is substantive or an artefact of how outcomes have been measured.

Participatory evaluation of an educational game for social skills acquisition

This paper reports a study conducted to formally evaluate a social problem-solving skills game during the start of the development to ensure that the desired game attributes were successfully embodied in the final game. Two methods, heuristic evaluation and participatory design, were adopted to assess whether the features of the game pose playability issues to the prospective young users and to translate the participants' contributions into game design directions. The participants playtested and evaluated the game based on the Pedagogical Playability Heuristics, which are different from existing heuristics developed for commercial games, as priority was placed on instructional design principles and the concept of playability. Using storyboarding, they built low-fidelity prototypes of the game. Suitable children's design and feedback on the games attributes that would bring about stimulation, connecting instructions to goals, appropriate challenge and influencing goal achievement were integrated into the game design. As a consequence of the study, steps were taken to improve the game as an interactive system to achieve the instructional goals and at the same time foster enjoyment among the users.

An Analysis on the Contents and Interface Design of Children's Library Websites

An Analysis on the Contents and Interface Design of Children's Library Websites

The Study on the Landscape Design of Children's Playground in City Park: A Case Study of Northwest River Park in Yan'an

This paper based on children's play behavior, through the practice of Yan'an Northwest River Park children's playground landscape design, to explore the children's playground spatial layout and the function zoning. This paper also to research specific design principles and discipline of the landscape elements, trying to build chi1dren's playground in city park to fit the children's play behavior psychology.

Study on Planning and Design of Children's Outdoor Activity Places of Daily Life in Urban Residential Areas

The children will be the social future, and are the vulnerable groups. Children's outdoor activity places of daily life in residential areas are the foundation of the children healthy growth, but these places often were disregarded in urban planning. This paper analyses the problems that we should pay attention to, and discusses the method of the children's outdoor activity places. It hopes that this paper will have a direct significance in planning and design of urban residential areas.

Study on Planning and Design of Children's Outdoor Activity Places of Daily Life in Urban Residential Areas

The children will be the social future, and are the vulnerable groups. Children's outdoor activity places of daily life in residential areas are the foundation of the children healthy growth, but these places often were disregarded in urban planning. This paper analyses the problems that we should pay attention to, and discusses the method of the children's outdoor activity places. It hopes that this paper will have a direct significance in planning and design of urban residential areas.

Ethics for Bioengineers

Increasingly, biomedical scientists and engineers are involved in projects, design, or research and development that involve humans or animals. The book presents general concepts on professionalism and the regulation of the profession of engineering, including a discussion on what is ethics and moral conduct, ethical theories and the codes of ethics that are most relevant for engineers. An ethical decision-making process is suggested. Other issues such as conflicts of interest, plagiarism, intellectual property, confidentiality, privacy, fraud, and corruption are presented. General guidelines, the process for obtaining ethics approval from Ethics Review Boards, and the importance of obtaining informed consent from volunteers recruited for studies are presented. A discussion on research with animals is included. Ethical dilemmas focus on reproductive technologies, stem cells, cloning, genetic testing, and designer babies. The book includes a discussion on ethics and the technologies of body enhancement and of regeneration. The importance of assessing the impact of technology on people, society, and on our planet is stressed. Particular attention is given to nanotechnologies, the environment, and issues that pertain to developing countries. Ideas on gender, culture, and ethics focus on how research and access to medical services have, at times, been discriminatory towards women. The cultural aspects focus on organ transplantation in Japan, and a case study of an Aboriginal child in Canada; both examples show the impact that culture can have on how care is provided or accepted. The final section of the book discusses data collection and analysis and offers a guideline for honest reporting of results, avoiding fraud, or unethical approaches. The appendix presents a few case studies where fraud and/or unethical research have occurred. Table of Contents: Introduction to Ethics / Experiments with Human Subjects or Animals / Examples of Ethical Dilemmas in Biomedical Research / Technology and Society / Gender, Culture, and Ethics / Data Collection and Analysis

WHEN PARENTS CAN CHOOSE TO HAVE THE “PERFECT” CHILD: WHY FERTILITY CLINICS SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO REPORT PREIMPLANTATION GENETIC DIAGNOSIS DATA

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) is a procedure used to screen embryos for certain genetic conditions before implantation via in vitro fertilization (IVF) so the desired embryos can be chosen for implantation. The procedure was originally used to prevent the birth of children with deadly genetic disorders, but it is now used for more controversial reasons, such as to select for sex. Limited information is available regarding how PGD is used in the United States and there are many ethical concerns surrounding the practice of PGD, most notably that it could lead to the creation of designer babies and eugenic practices. This Note proposes amending a federal act to require fertility clinics to report PGD data through an existing web-based system. This data can then be used by policymakers to federally regulate PGD practices.

Targeted screening for pediatric conditions with the CHICA system

The Child Health Improvement through Computer Automation (CHICA) system is a decision-support and electronic-medical-record system for pediatric health maintenance and disease management. The purpose of this study was to explore CHICA's ability to screen patients for disorders that have validated screening criteria--specifically tuberculosis (TB) and iron-deficiency anemia. Children between 0 and 11 years were randomized by the CHICA system. In the intervention group, parents were asked about TB and iron-deficiency risk, and physicians received a tailored prompt. In the control group, no screens were performed, and the physician received a generic prompt about these disorders. 1123 participants were randomized to the control group and 1116 participants to the intervention group. Significantly more people reported positive risk factors for iron-deficiency anemia in the intervention group (17.5% vs 3.1%, OR 6.6, 95% CI 4.5 to 9.5). In general, far fewer parents reported risk factors for TB than for iron-deficiency anemia. Again, there were significantly higher detection rates of positive risk factors in the intervention group (1.8% vs 0.8%, OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.0 to 5.0). It is possible that there may be more positive screens without improving outcomes. However, the guidelines are based on studies that have evaluated the questions the authors used as sensitive and specific, and there is no reason to believe that parents misunderstood them. Many screening tests are risk-based, not universal, leaving physicians to determine who should have a further workup. This can be a time-consuming process. The authors demonstrated that the CHICA system performs well in assessing risk automatically for TB and iron-deficiency anemia.

Digital Design of Children's Battery Car

Digital design of children's battery car is a comprehensive design, which involves many fields such as man-machine engineering, art shaping and so on. This paper discusses the overall design, local design and digital design of children's battery car; and the three stages including preparation and design idea, improvement and virtual manufacturing about digital design of children's battery car have been analyzed.

Procreative Autonomy and the human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008: Does a Coherent Conception Underpin UK Law?

In the twenty years since the enactment of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, rapid and radical developments in reproductive technologies have created new options for procreation. Legislation passed in 1990 was no longer adequate and the HFE Act 2008 was designed to update the law in the United Kingdom, a country at the forefront of the reproductive revolution. Reviews, documents and developments that formed the background for the new Act, gave rise to expectations that it would take a principled approach and had the potential to recognise the principle of procreative autonomy. Examining the provisions on cloning, sex selection, ‘designer babies’ and ‘saviour siblings’, this paper argues that in the event, no such principle underpins the Act. While procreative autonomy is not an all or nothing account, I find that both, provisions expanding treatment services and those restricting procreative choice, are based on pragmatic grounds incompatible with the principle. This pragmatism, I conclude, does not provide the coherent approach that the UK might have hoped for.

The Development of Practical Arts Education Program for the Improvement of Elementary School Children's Design Recognition Based on Design Visualization Process and TRIZ

The Development of Practical Arts Education Program for the Improvement of Elementary School Children's Design Recognition Based on Design Visualization Process and TRIZ

Genetic Information, Genetic Disease, Counseling and Law, or Do we say Yes or No to Cloning Babies and to "Designer Children"?

Genetic Information, Genetic Disease, Counseling and Law, or Do we say Yes or No to Cloning Babies and to "Designer Children"?

Le diagnostic pré-implantatoire couplé au typage HLA : l’expérience française

Umut-Talha, a "sibling savior", was born on 26 January 2011 at Beclère Hospital after embryo selection at the Paris preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) center. His birth revived the controversy over "double PGD". This procedure, authorized in France since 2006, allows couples who already have a child with a serious, incurable genetic disease, to opt for PGD in order to select a healthy embryo that is HLA-matched to the affected sibling and who may thus serve as an ombilical cord blood donor. The procedure is particularly complex and the baby take-home rate is still very low. Double PGD is strictly regulated in France, and candidate couples must first receive individual authorization from the Biomedicine Agency. In our experience, these couples have a strong desire to have children, as reflected by the large number of prior spontaneous pregnancies (25% of couples). Likewise, most of these couples request embryo transfer even when there is no HLA-matched embryo, which accounts for more than half of embryo transfers. The controversy surrounding this practice has flared up again in recent weeks, over the concepts of "designer babies" and "double savior siblings" (the baby is selected to be free of the hereditary disease, and may also serve as a stem cell donor for the affected sibling).

A Study of Children Design Education Development based on Design Process

A Study of Children Design Education Development based on Design Process

Neighborhood Perceptions Affect Dietary Behaviors and Diet Quality

Objective The primary purpose of this study was to determine if perceived neighborhood disorder affected dietary quality within a multiethnic sample of children. Design Children were recruited through the use of fliers, wide-distribution mailers, parent magazines, and school presentations from June 2005 to December 2008. Setting Birmingham-Hoover, Alabama metropolitan area. Participants Sample of 100 children aged 7 to 12 years. Main Outcome Measure Dietary quality was assessed using the average of two 24-hour recalls and analyzed using the Nutrition Data System for Research. Analysis Multivariate linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between neighborhood disorder and dietary quality. Results Perceived neighborhood disorder was associated with increased iron intake ( P = .03) and lower potassium levels ( P = .04). Perceived neighborhood disorder was not significantly associated with increased energy intake ( P = .07) and increased sodium intake ( P = .08). Conclusions and Implications Perceived neighborhood disorder was significantly related to differences in dietary quality. This finding indicates that subjective neighborhood characteristics may pose barriers to healthful eating behaviors for children. Future research efforts and policy should address sociostructural factors and ways to manipulate and improve food environments and individuals' perceptions of their neighborhoods.