Not very long ago, creating a baby was simple and didn't require much thought. But today, parents can gain access to the latest technology to test genes and determine their baby's sex beforehand. It is said that scientists are planning on enhancing gene modification to the extent that a great amount of attributes could be chosen for the baby. These attributes include the probability of their height, their body type, hair and eye colour, and even what illnesses they will be naturally resistant to, their IQ and type of personality. Parents may even be able to use the possibility of gene therapy enhancement in the future to take out undesired traits they have for their baby and put in the ones they want. Parents may begin to start "shopping" for their babies instead of creating them naturally and God-made. Are humans taking this all too far when it comes to genetic modification and selection?
How are babies "designed"? Since females contain 2 X chromosomes, it is up to the male who carries an X and a Y chromosome to determine the gender of the baby. Y chromosomes have less DNA than X chromosomes. By staining the sperm's DNA with a nontoxic light-sensitive dye in order to sort the sperms by gender. This process is risky for society however, because places such as China or India already favour one gender. Therefore, if they are able to choose favourably which gender or attributes they prefer, society will become so unequally balanced! That sounds a lot like creating robots or superkids not babies.
At the moment, the only traits which are able to be identified at the earliest stages of development are gender as well as a few of the most serious genetic diseases. The combination of genes responsible for most of our physical and mental attributes has not even been identified yet, although scientific research and technology are advancing. Scientists say that the purpose of creating these genetic modification and selection techniques for designer babies will be meant for medical reasons, mainly being the prevention of diseases. However, if parents everywhere are already aware that this type of technology is becoming available and they could literally design their babies, knowing that some medical clinics would allow for genetic modification without a medical reason, what's stopping them?
Of course though, because these genetic modification processes are still imperfect, social and ethical implications have and will continue to develop. When it was first known that choosing the gender of your future child's gender, many people were unsure of how to react or feel about it. It seemed so unnatural and mysterious.Implications which have arisen are whether genetic modification technology is safe enough to be used on humans as well as whether using them is a moral or immoral decision. It is true that genetic modification is being used for morally harmless benefits such as farmers who plant crops with altered genomes in order to make them resistant of pests or herbicides but the concern involves morality. A study at Princeton University was made using mice. Mice genomes were introduced to a copy of a gene called NR2B which plays a role in the brain. The resulting mice appeared to learn quicker than the other natural mice. The NR2B gene also exists in humans. Before speculating whether it will perform the same effect on humans though, safety concerns must be taken care of. There is a fear of the NR2B gene disrupting the function of another gene that is crucial for survival. Another is that multiple effects will occur because for the mice, even though their memory and learning skills were improved, they were also more pain sensitive. It is difficult to find solutions to these problems because finding the right combination of genes to make the right reaction isn't easy.
Blue tomatoes, mass productions of poultry and now designer babies. Are things getting out of hand with genetic research? I don't believe that there could be too much knowledge, so simply researching and experimenting is perfectly fine and I also think for serious medical purposes, GM is understandable. However, if people and parents are going to start using genetic modification for puposes such as cosmetic attributes, then yes things will get out of hand. Parents will begin to want to create perfect children of their exact preference. That is unfair to others and seems morally wrong to many. Humans are supposed to have flaws! Why not just stick to the natural way...
Sources:
Time- Designer Babies
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989987-2,00.html
Designer Babies: Ethical Considerations
http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/agar.html
Hey Amanda!
ReplyDeleteI liked your blog. I was reading the ending, where you said “Parents will begin to want to create perfect children of their exact preference.” And you’re blog really got me thinking. It made me realize that what parents might want, isn’t necessarily what their kids would like to have. Like maybe, around the time of a child’s birth, being a brunette was really ‘in’ but when the kids grew up, everybody was a blond! If they knew that their parents had chosen this trait for them, they’d have a reason to really dislike their parents! It’s like; maybe there are aspects of ourselves that we don’t like and would like to blame on our parents (for making us that way), but we can’t because they didn’t choose us to be that way. But soon, we WILL be able to blame stuff like that on our parents! Creepy…
And you’re right when you say that our world could easily become unbalanced when people from countries like India and China start to ONLY have boy babies! It would be pretty awful, because I don’t think they’d realise what they were doing until it was too late! And I don’t think they’d be stopped, especially if they have the required money!
I liked how you said that parents would be ‘shopping’ for their babies. It put the designer-babies idea into perspective. And you’re right; humans are human because of their flaws!
It was a great blog, I enjoyed reading it. And I didn’t know about blue tomatoes, so thanks for teaching me something new!
Sweet blog,
ReplyDeleteand if this became a trend, such as blue eyed babies are in, woudnt that make babies more like pets than kids, Oh yes, mine is all natrual.... My litttle darling was altered to perfection.... Its just wrong to play god i say. To cure desieses its all right, and if it really catches on and everybody does it maybe it would wipe out some genetic disorders but thas the only positive i see in it. Its not like we can help it thought, since the beginning of humans, we have always strived for perfection and to make things better and now we have found the ultimate way, well, i hope were happy.....
Anyway, humans arent perfect, and we cant be expected to be, so lets just be who we are and not mess things up. Let the babies be, is what i say.
Mennnng why does everyone have an epic ending D: o ya small pink fonts MY EYESSSS
ReplyDeleteReading your blog made me think of three things if genetic enhancement is introduced:
1. 3 billion boys living in Asia(population of India and China combined???) not sure the actually number but you have said parents in India and China prefer boys rather than girls
2. The movie Gattaca (watch trailer if you dunno it). Normal humans were referred to as genetic inferior and isn't allowed to work at certain jobs. Rich people have not only money but now ability to do everything!
3. Is Hitler behind this!?!? Hitler's desire of a perfect race have caused death to millions. What do we do after few centuries? Follow his example! Allow people to design their own baby. Of course certain traits will be preferred, and what will happen to people who don't look like that?
Great blog.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, any type of genetic enhancement is like playing God. Therapy is justifiable but enahnacement is not. All things in this world everything have flaws, but what if we eliminate those flaws? What type of world would be living in? I'm glad that genetic modification and conception of designer babies is not fully legalized, yet. I wouldn't want to live in a world where everything is perfect, what would be the point of living?
As you said, countries like India and China prefer males over females, there would be such a gap in the number of males and females that males would be fighting for female partners all the time. I also find it ironic that these two countries are some of the world's most populous.
I agree, why not just stick to the natural way? All this in artificial conception mumbo-jumbo takes all the fun out of reproduction anyways =D.
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteAwesome blog! I thought your pictures were very effective, especially the blue tomato.
I definitely agree with you that designer babies should only be created for medical purposes because there is not much purpose to the cosmetic purposes, besides altering appearances. Preventing an embryo from having a hereditary disease, like muscular dystrophy is much more important than having blue eyes, rather than brown ones!
Your blog was very insightful, and like you, I agree that designer babies will cause a change to society's meaning of perfection and how we all strive and desire for it.
Great blog, I enjoyed reading it!
-Priscilla
Amanda:)
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that using genetic manipulation for medicinal purposes are fine, but when it is used for vanity I really don't think it is fine at all. I also didn't even know there are blue tomatoes. Seeing the blue tomatoes makes me wonder if any genetically modified food is even good for me. The blue tomato is quite scary and it honestly doesn't look edible.
ps. i like your blog (:
Personally, this technology really piques my interest. I think it's cool to be able to modify the genes, however, I also agree that genetic modification should only be applied to medical purposes, for prevention of deadly gentic diseases and disorders. The one about the genetically-engineered mouse made more intelligent than average got my attention. Yes, it became more intelligent but it also became sensitive to pain. In this situation, it's obvious that there is a side effect for enhancing intelligence in mice. Now, what happens if this is applied to humans?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, our point is they should just use this technology to make our lives healthier and more immune to diseases. They should just stick to applying this to crops and animals that we eat and not actuatlly on us. Besides, parents shouldn't be the one to decide what their children will look like. They should just accept what is given to them and love their children regardless of how they look like.
By the way, I like your blog. I think it's very informative and interesting.
I believe pretty much all of the things you said here Amanda! I also believe that humans have something inside of us that makes us want the power to create ourselves and instill our beliefs and desires into our children since we didn't turn out the way we would have liked. Playing God is definitely something we should not do because we are not God and we should leave that to Him. We are in danger of creating mutations in humans and in disease. I agree with Teevee when they say that it would be a strange reality to live in a perfect world of perfect people. It would also be great to use this process for curing diseases and not for shallow interests.
ReplyDeleteI also didn't know about the blue tomatoe and im sure there are more things in the world that humans are genetically altering. For now I think that we should turn our focus to the problem that is arising with the increased interest of designer babies.
Yes I think it is unethical and yes I also agree with the medical use of it as a positive use of the new technology. That was a really good point. I also liked how you met in the middle of the two and proved the other one to better and more ethical than the cosmetic use of the procedure.
In regards to the male preference over females in china and india, I had no clue until I saw it there on your blog so thank you it was very insightful
I agree with geodude and teevee about playing God and how it takes the fun out of children and watching them grow. When we alter ourselves to be better there are also new consequences somewhere aroud the corner.
Amanda!!!
ReplyDeleteI love you blog...I agree with you that one of the only good reasons for desiner babies are for medical reason...even though the point of designer babies are to have perfect babies, I think that these babies will grow up to have some flaws anyway, either in attitude, or some other way.
"Humans are supposed to have flaws! Why not just stick to the natural way..."
I agree with your last sentences and since i think that these designer babies are going to be flawed in some way like a regular human being, it is a total waste of money.
Nothing/no one is perfect and nothing/ no one lasts forever.
Dear Ms. Phen,
ReplyDeleteI'd like to congratulate you on the great blog post. Although, I did disagree with your ideas about humans being stewards of the world, I agree with your moral values in this blog post. I too think the concept of "Designer babies" is morally wrong and inhumane.
Regarding your question "Are humans taking this all too far when it comes to genetic modification and selection?" Yes, we are over stepping our boundaries. There should be limits to what humans have control over, and I think it's wrong to design a baby down to it's PERSONALITY... What's the point of raising a baby if you already know it's going to happen...? If that's the case, why need a parent at all?