DOCTORS are planning the first British “designer baby” free from the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease in middle age.

A couple with a strong family history of early-onset Alzheimer’s will select embryos free from a gene that predisposes children to developing the condition in their forties or fifties.

Under the plan, Charl and Danielle de Beer from London will undergo IVF to create the embryos even though they have no fertility problems. The de Beers say embryo screening offers them the chance to have healthy children and end the tragedy Alzheimer’s has brought to their family.

However, critics warn that screening embryos for the disease is a dangerous step towards creating “perfect” babies.

The de Beers, who are in their early thirties, were considering adoption before they heard of the technique, called preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), which can screen out embryos carrying the genes that predispose people to Alzheimer’s.

The couple’s doctors at the Bridge Centre fertility clinic in London will this month apply to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) for a licence to perform the treatment in Britain. It is already used in America.

Doctors are already screening embryos here using PGD to create babies free from fatal conditions which affect children such as cystic fibrosis. Doctors now plan to use the technique more widely, however, to prevent adult diseases.

Screening embryos for genes that predispose to Alzheimer’s is controversial because it is regarded as an illness of age. Even early onset Alzheimer’s does not affect patients until their forties and fifties.

About 5%-6% of sufferers of the debilitating mental wasting disease develop it in middle age. Of these cases, about 60%, equivalent to 25,000 patients in Britain, are genetic.

Opponents of PGD worry it may lead to a situation in which those who can afford it are able to “screen out” disability and even choose children on the basis of attributes such as looks and intelligence.

Dr David King, director of Human Genetics Alert, said he sympathised with the de Beers but added: “We can confidently expect science to find a cure for Alzheimer’s in the next 40 years. I don’t believe that it is better never to have been born than to live a healthy life for 45 years and die from Alzheimer’s.

“If we don’t want to slide down this slippery slope, we must restrict PGD to conditions that are fatal in early life.”

Charl de Beer’s mother Patricia died earlier this year, aged 64, after developing Alzheimer’s at 49. His maternal grandmother died from Alzheimer’s when his mother was just five years old. Two uncles also died prematurely from the condition.

“My family has been dealing with Alzheimer’s for 15 years now,” said de Beer. “I am not prepared to run the risk of passing this on to my kids, and my wife has the same view.”

De Beer has a 50% chance of carrying the gene that would lead to him developing Alzheimer’s. The 34-year-old accountant does not wish to be tested because of the disruption the knowledge he was a carrier could cause to his life. He does, however, wish to ensure his children do not inherit it. Only embryos that do not have this gene will be implanted into Danielle de Beer.

Professor Gedis Grudzinskas, medical director at the Bridge Centre and the couple’s doctor, said: “Society is becoming more comfortable using this powerful technology to avoid conditions that cause distress by creating what silly people call ‘designer babies’.”

The HFEA is expected to look favourably on the application.

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