Preimplantation Genetic Testing: A Review of Past and Current

The field of medical genetics has seen significant and incredible advances in technology for the past several decades. Genetic technologies, particularly in the reproductive medicine discipline, represent a fresh era in medicine that may develop significantly in the coming years. The purpose of Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT) in the situation of assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatments with IVF (in vitro fertilization) or ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) is particularly controversial as it is done before implantation [1]. However, despite the successful application of PGT in the field of IVF in overcoming infertility and genetic defects, the techniques pose various limitations, and concerns that need to be addressed to enhance their success rate [2]. This review will introduce PGT and summarize the molecular techniques used in its application as well as highlight the future advances in the field.

Efficiency of in vitro culture techniques applied to soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) accessions from the VIR collection

Using a wide range of modern biotechnologies and genetic techniques to study plant germplasm accessions held by VIR makes it possible to procure valuable results, required for the development of new high-yielding cultivars adapted to adverse environmental conditions and possessing specified technological properties, particularly to identify and mark new genes and alleles useful for plant breeding. This research trend is in line with Presidential Decree No. 680 “Concerning the development of genetic technologies in the Russian Federation”. Soybean is among the key crops in agricultural production, but the use of next-generation breeding tools to obtain new soybean cultivars with desired properties is still limited. Successful application of novel methods also requires new approaches to studying soybean accessions, specifically their ability to regenerate and produce calluses for subsequent inclusion in biotechnological programs.Ten soybean accessions of various origin, contrasting in ripening schedules, were selected to study the possibility of effective introduction into in vitro culture and further assessment of their ability to produce calluses and regenerate in in vitro culture. The work included evaluating the effects of different seed sterilization techniques (one-step sterilization, using a commercial bleach, and two-step one, combining the impacts of a chlorine-containing preparation and hydrogen peroxide), types of explants (epicotyls, hypocotyls, cotyledon nodes, and cotyledon leaf segments), and phytohormone composition of nutrient medium: (1) MS + 1.13 mg/L BAP + 0.5 mg/L HA, and (2) MS +1 mg/L BAP + 0.1 mg/L IAA).The assessment results showed that the option of two-step seed sterilization was the most effective for soybean at the stage of in vitro culture initiation, while hypocotyls, epicotyls, and cotyledon nodes had the highest callus formation ability in both types of nutrient media.

Organizational and legal problems of the program for the development of genetic technologies implementation

The relevance of this study is determined by the fact that at present legal regulation of genetic research is not comprehensive and does not provide a complete regulation of social relations in the focus. Оne of the factors hindering the development of genetic technologies is the absence of a basic law On genetic technologies. The purpose of the study . The article is devoted to the analysis of modern legal problems and the search for optimal solutions to the organizational and legal problems of the program for the development of genetic technologies implementation. Materials and methods of research . In order to understand modern approaches to relevant problems of improving the organizational and legal mechanism of the program for the development of genetic technologies implementation associated with environmental and biological risks and threats, a comparison of various methods of legal regulation and management, including dialectical, logical, and predictive methods, as well as the method of system analysis, is carried out. Results. Application of these methods allowed to conduct a comprehensive legal analysis of the current legislation and state strategic planning documents, work out a theoretical and legal basis for the development of the basic law On Genetic Technologies and formulate other proposals to improve the current legislation. The core powers of the National (federal) Bioresource Center, the network of federal and regional centers of genetic technologies, as well as the National Center for Biosafety have been identified and grounded by the authors.

Epistemological issues of research of the subject and object of legal protection in genomic relations

The relevance of the research topic is justified by the rapid technological development of genetics and genomics and introduction of genetic technologies and inventions in scientific and medical practice, which is not provided with a proper systematized legal protection in national and international legislation. The legislators problems are caused by the uniqueness and complexity of the genomic legal relationship. The subjects of knowledge in the framework of post-non-classical scientific rationality need to focus on the epistemological philosophical foundations of the knowledge of genomic legal relations. The purpose of the study is to identify and reflect the features of knowledge of the legal protection of genomic legal relations. Research tasks suggest defining the concept and composition of genomic legal relations, identifying the object and subject of legal protection of genomic legal relations, distinguishing between the concepts of "legal safeguard" and "legal protection" of genomic legal relations. The methodology of scientific research includes the dialectical method, general scientific logical operations (deduction and induction, analysis and synthesis), and private scientific methods (formal legal and comparative legal methods). Within the framework of the methodology of post-non-classical scientific rationality, a systematic approach to the study of the object of knowledge is used - the study of the structure, functional and instrumental aspects of the protective genomic legal relationship.

Preimplantation and prenatal genetic diagnostics in Russian Federation: ethical and legal issues

The topicality of the article is due to the strategy of transition to personalized medicine in Russia, based, among other things, on technologies of preimplantation and prenatal genetic diagnostics. The purpose of the article is to analyze the main directions of ethical and legal support for the development of these technologies. The work is based on the study of relevant international regulations, foreign and Russian legislation using the methods of legal-dogmatic and philosophical-legal analysis. The article substantiates the need for a clearer distinction between legal and moral-religious approaches to regulating relations in applying these technologies. The task is to find legal structures that can take into account the moral aspects of the problem without replacing legal regulation with an appeal to moral and religious values and norms. An example of this approach is the development of a legal regime for manipulations with embryo in vitro, in which the necessary legal protection of the embryo is provided by recognizing its special ontological status as a constitutional value of the common good. From these positions, the author identifies a range of issues that should form the organizational and legal context necessary to ensure adequate guarantees of human rights in the field of application of the considered genetic technologies. The legal regulation of this range of issues should be fixed in a special federal law on genetic testing.

Actual directions of improving legislation in the field of biological and genetic technologies

One of the trends of modern state policy is the development of biological and genetic, aimed at solving socio-economic problems and problems caused by global challenges and threats associated with the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, climate change, reduced biodiversity, and other negative manifestations. In these conditions, there is a need to revise the conceptual approaches to the legal regulation of relations in the field of the use of biological and genetic technologies, taking into account natural and social relationships. The article shows the need to apply to these relations the ecosystem approach, the concept of sustainable development, the interdisciplinary approach “Unified Health”, four “bio”, an integral part of which is to ensure safety (environmental, biological, genetic, sanitary-epidemiological, biosphere). The issues of improving the Russian legislation in the field of application of biological and genetic technologies on an intersectoral basis in connection with the environmental, sanitary and epidemiological, natural resource, agricultural and other industries are considered.The directions of harmonization of the domestic regulatory framework with international norms and treaties, including the assessment of the risks of possible harmful effects of the use of biological and genetic technologies on human health and the environment, are proposed. In Russian legislation, it is necessary to legalize the concepts of “risk assessment”, “risk factors”, as well as to determine the procedure for assessing the potentially and really harmful effects of GMOs and other results of the use of genetic and biotechnologies on human health and the environment.

Cluster approach to organization of genomic research

The accelerated development of genetic technologies in the Russian Federation and their consistent use in health care, agriculture and industry for full implementation require the availability of effective organizational tools that allow not only to develop new genomic technologies but also their practical application. The article explores the legal aspects of the functioning of medical and pharmaceutical clusters; analyzes the possibilities of using a cluster approach to the organization of genomic research; it is stated that the advantage of the cluster is the concentration in a small territory of interconnected scientific organizations, educational institutions and innovative industries.