Polydactyly

• Polydactyly

  An inherited disorder of having extra fingers or toes
• Cause of polydactyly

  Dominant allele
• You cannot be a carrier of polydactyly since it is dominant
• Embryo screening

  Embryos are tested to see if they have the alleles for inherited disorders and embryos without the defective alleles are implanted in the woman to develop into healthy offspring
• Embryo screening is expensive
• Some people think the money spent on embryo screening should be spent elsewhere in the health service
• A large amount of embryos are created but only a few are implanted, so some healthy ones are destroyed
• Some people find embryo screening to produce offspring with desirable features unethical
• Gene therapy


  Scientists may be able to correct faulty alleles and use this to treat inherited disorders in the future