Designer Babies: Good Or Bad?

Should parent be allowed to genetically engineer their children? : The ethical dilemma of designer babies.

With technology rapidly increasing, the general public has developed a term known as designer babies. Designer babies refer to children whose genetics have been artificially selected or manipulated at the embryonic stage to exclude or produce certain traits. Designer baby technology, or reproductive genetics, combines genetic screening and engineering processes with in vitro fertilization (IVF) (Lerner 1). The big debate is whether or not it is right to genetically manipulate a baby to be born exactly as you wish. By the end of this essay you should agree with me that designer babies are morally wrong.

Picture a young couple in a waiting room looking through a catalogue together. This catalogue is a little different from what you might expect. In this catalogue, specific traits for babies are being sold to couples to help them create the "perfect baby." This may seem like a bizarre scenario, but it may not be too far off in the future. Designing babies using genetic enhancement is an issue that is gaining more and more attention in the news. This controversial issue, once thought to be only possible in the realm of science-fiction, is causing people to discuss the moral issues surrounding genetic enhancement and germ line engineering. Though genetic research can prove beneficial to learning how to prevent hereditary

If it is possible to cure genetic disorders in unborn children, then why does this dilemma exist? Designer babies may offer a solution for many parents faced with an uncertain future. The term “Designer Babies” refer to children who develop from embryos that are selected, or genetically modified in vitro (outside of the human body, usually in a laboratory). While emerging technology is constantly improving the daily lives of mankind, the scientists involved in this branch of science have fallen under great scrutiny despite their best effort to contribute to society. As a developing science, the exploration of genetic editing has potential to direct humanity to a radiant future. Financially funding and

Technology has made leaps and bounds over the past several years; it has come to have tremendous effects on how we live our lives; from transportation to how quickly we can access information. Recently, technology has begun changing the lives of children, especially infants. A new form of genetic engineering can genetically modify the DNA of an embryo to achieve specific or desirable traits; this is referred to as “Designer Babies”. This procedure will ultimately change lives, for better or for worse. While it may seem to most that designer babies are beneficial, they will actually cause more harm than good.

As science continues to advance, scientists have found ways for parents to edit the characteristics and genes of their children. This includes the ability to determine and change gender, diseases, personalities, and looks. With further advancements, designing babies could potentially ensure immunity from diseases and mental illnesses for future generations. The editing of a human genome would prevent suffering and hardship. Although this new technology could ensure a better life for an individual, the possibilities of social implications and unethical processes gives unsureness to whether or not these procedures should be an option.

To start, designer babies are being formulated in many parts of the world. At St. Barnabas Hospital in New Jerssey it was announces that scientists “had created genetically modified babies with a technique called ooplasmic transfer,” (Cussins 2). Truthfully this practice is even happening in our home state of New Jersey. This practice could even start happening in U.K. fertility clinics, if they’re approved (Cussins 3). Furthermore, there are many ways to genetically modify a person. A reporter for CBS reported that PGD (Pre Inplantation Diagnosis) is used for gender screening and to screen for diseases (“Designer Babies?”). Additionally, 3-person IVF is used

For many people, the term “designer babies” sounds like something that could only exist in the novel, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. But, science has now advanced to the point where faulty genes can now be singled out, discarded, and replaced with more favorable ones. Just like the 16,012 babies manufactured in the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre in Brave New World, human embryos can be selected for fertilization based on their genes. This is done through the processes of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). This involves removing mature egg cells from a woman and fertilizing it with male sperm outside of the body. The embryos are then analyzed for abnormalities and mutations in the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The healthiest embryos are then implanted back into the woman’s uterus for regular gestation (Yount). The development of these techniques originated from the Human Genome Project initiated by the United States government in 1988 (Siegel-Itzkovich). Although established initially with the purpose of selecting healthy embryos free of disease, the same techniques can be applied to select genes that code for traits such as intelligence, strength, and beauty. IVF and PGD are useful techniques but should only be used for medical purposes, not for selecting the embryos of perfect children.

Over the past decade, the scientific technology of genetic engineering has grown drastically. Online articles propose that the chance to pick the accurate characteristics a guardian wants for their child will be accessible, “Any couple with several thousand dollars to spare can choose the sex of their offspring” (Ehrich and Williams, 2004). Progressed regenerative advances permit people and specialists to screen embryos for a hereditary issue and select solid developing lives. Although Designer babies have been a subject that has been banned in China, UK, and India, it is still a mainstream point far and wide. This subject brings a considerable measure of verbal confrontations about the basic, yes and no, but additionally about when and when not.

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis is a technology that “has steadily expanded its scope, often in contentious ways. Embryo screening, for example, is sometimes used to create a “savior sibling”-- a younger sister or brother whose healthy cells can be harvested to treat an older sibling with serious illness, It is also increasingly used to weed out embryos at risk of genetic diseases” (Robinson). After awhile of using PGD to help a child or make sure nothing was to happen to a child they realized that the could even change the appearances of children. By doing this they take away racial diversity and end up making the world have genetic consequences. By letting this happen this means the world would be okay with only having a few races and children who are either made without being genetically engineered or being genetically engineered and feel like they are a better

There are sometimes immediate or later consequences as a result of an action. Therefore, with the creation of designer babies, it may lead to major or minor changes. What may happen in the present, may impact the future. An important concern was that “genetic screening and modification could be used as the tools of new eugenics, a popular theory during the early twentieth century that sought to remove from the population traits labeled undesirable” (Lerner, 2012, para. 10). The main purpose of designer babies was to create healthier and improved babies, but it may lead to disparity in health. People who did not undergo this procedure will not be on the same level to those who did; thus, may lead to discrimination of non-designer babies. Therefore,

The birth of a child is supposed to be a time of joy, the uncertainty of life leads to this one point in time. Will she or he be the next president, a star athlete, a genius or just fall into the crowd as another citizen. With recent advancements in science, this uncertainty has become a thing of the past. The human being is now seen as a commodity and no more is valued in the uncertainty of individuality. The parent can now choose how they want their child to come out or develop into. Sandel’s book The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Case of Modern Eugenics is a well researched look into examples of modern eugenics and the problems that arise from it. These topics range from the ethics of cloning, athletes using performance enhancing drugs, and other practical uses in everyday life. Sandel’s argument is that there is value in human nature (even with all its flaws), and genetic engineering will forever change human nature. Destroying the very essence of what it is to be human and scarring humanity. The main features of human nature that will be altered: are responsibility, humility and solidarity.

Because controlling the genetic content of the child’s DNA will prevent genetic diseases and disability, designer babies should be allowed. There are many illnesses which neither the child nor the parents could prevent the child from getting. This kind of disease is transferred from the parents to the child by genes like diabetes. Because of these genes the child will get a disability or illness, which can affect their not only physical but also mental ability. Because of that they cannot function as well as other kids, and it might lead to emotions problems and anxieties. So when this technology claims to have the ability to end most of the diseases, the community should give it the best chance. Also, Michael Bostrom, author of “The Morality of Human Genetic Engineering” argues that “the practice of genetic engineering might also lead to better treatment of disability” (1). Opponents show their disagreement by pointing out

When it comes to the subject of designer babies, or even the thought of being able to create a 'perfect' child there is either controversy or pure relief. The reason being because when it comes to designing babies there is good as well as bad. For example some may say being able to genetically modify a baby so it has no chances of coming out deformed or even with mental or psychical diseases and disabilities is a miracle. Others may say that in the law of ethics this can not be acceptable. The fact the you're choosing your child's fate is ‘wrong’ stating that whether a child ends up with a disease is life, we should not be able to control it. Which makes sense yes, unless you're talking about two parents who can't have children because

How does it sound to walk into the doctor’s office, choose what attributes you want your baby to have, and then having that exact baby 9 months later? Although this may seem quite harmless to most, the negative effects of designer babies are tremendous: the lack of diversity in our population, violation of a specific set of laws designed to protect humans, going against Christian views, and even destroying the roots of human nature. With genetic engineering biotechnology, such as Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (or CRISPR), new and unique altercations are being done to revolutionize many aspects of our lives. Along with astounding benefits that can come from these biotechnologies, many people have come up with crazy ideas, such as these designer baby ideas, that could be potentially harmful to our society.