How close are we to Gattaca?

In the 1997 film Gattaca a dystopian future is populated by genetically pre-selected "valids" and naturally conceived "in-valids", resulting in a near-impenetrable social stratification between to two groups. So how close are we to such a world? A recent blog post in Scientific American addressed this question.

Many advances have been made since the first in vitro fertilization (IVF) in 1978. IVF can be combined with increasingly sophisticated preimplantation genetic diagnoses (PGD) where a single cell from the developing eight-cell cell cluster is extracted and tested for a variety of heritable features and conditions. Cell clusters containing mutated genes that lead to major heritable disorders such as Huntington's Disease or cystic fibrosis can be identified and excluded as IVF candidates. However the selection process is not just limited to major disorders, and while it is outlawed in many other countries, US fertility clinics may legally allow parents to choose the sex of their child. Such practice is not uncommon, and can be done as a preventative measure against sex-linked disorders, or simply for personal or cultural preference. As large scale research identifies the genetic basis for more complex (and often highly polygenic) features such as height, skin color, intelligence, or temperament are uncovered, we are faced with the increasingly real ethical question of to what degree "tailor-making" children should be allowed. However we must recognize that to a limited extent, this is already a reality that we're living in.

Also, let it be known that Gattaca has an awesome soundtrack by composer Michael Nyman.