There has been scant public discussion about genetic screening of embryos in Germany, presumably because of a residual suspicion of genetic diagnostics after the sinister history of Nazi eugenics. To rectify this and to remove ideological preconceptions, the Leopoldina, Germany's national academy of sciences, set up an interdisciplinary panel of experts last year to discuss the ethical implications of genetic diagnostics (see go.nature.com/gzmhpe; in German).

The panel agreed that adequate genetic counselling is paramount, that personal freedom and human dignity must be preserved, and that a third party should not be allowed to decide the fate of an embryo that tests positive for a severe genetic disease.

The panel's main concerns were to find the best ways to safeguard the voluntary decisions of couples to undergo and act on genetic testing of their unborn child, and to protect the rights of tested and untested children born with a genetic disease.