Driving a Ferrari on a Country Road, or When the Technique Becomes a Gatekeeper: The Case of Preimplantation Genetic Testing in France

Genetic testing has become increasingly widespread and routinised in the field of assisted reproduction. In France, preimplantation genetic testing (PGT)—the genetic analysis of in vitro embryos to avoid transferring those diagnosed with a specific condition—is strictly regulated and limited to a single known mutation. While next-generation sequencing (NGS) is becoming the international standard in many reproductive laboratories, French PGT centres continue to use older methods. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a French PGT centre, this chapter explores how legal frameworks shape technical choices in reproductive genetics. It argues that the use of older methods is a deliberate strategy to comply with national bioethics laws. These technologies act as “moral agents”. They participate to restrict access to genomic information that is considered morally and legally sensitive, thus serving both regulatory compliance and moral self-preservation for the professionals. This case illustrates how technical choices in medical genetics are not solely driven by efficiency or innovation, but are also shaped by legal, ethical, and organisational concerns and how they contribute to ensuring compliance with the law.