The British Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is considering whether embryo screening technology should be used to stop babies being born with a gene that may lead to cancer.
The fertility watchdog today said it wanted to hear the public's views about using fertility treatment advances to screen out serious genetic disorders.
These include inherited breast cancer, inherited ovarian cancer and hereditary non polyposis colon cancer.
However, ethical campaigners claim it will eventually lead to all embryos being screened for even minor deficiencies.
The embryo screening technique, preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), is available at ten fertility clinics across the UK.
It is already used to allow parents with a family history of serious conditions, such as cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease, to avoid passing the gene which leads to the condition on to their children.
But the new debate focuses on disorders where the condition is not "fully penetrant" - meaning that not everyone with the gene will go on to develop the disease.
The HFEA's policy team has been reviewing the issue since the start of the year, but the watchdog has now decided to hold a wider public discussion.
PA