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Are designer babies unethical
The ethical dilemma of designer babies | Paul Knoepfler review
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Is it morally acceptable for parents to use genetic and reproductive techniques to create designer babies? A topic that has become controversial in the past few years especially when it comes to a child’s autonomy something that is important to children when it comes to behavior and thinking independently. As I was searching for different issues that I could address, I found a very interesting article titled, The parental investment factor and the child's right to an open future which reminded me of the movie Gattaca. After reading these articles I started imagining a world of designer babies and how things would change dramatically for a child whose parents decided to design their children the way they wanted them to be which is an issue
The second article I have chosen to evaluate for this topic is The Designer Baby Myth written by Steven Pinker. This article starts off by explaining how many people fear the idea of genetic enhancement. Several citizens are concerned about creating the ultimate inequality or changing human nature itself. Many will say technology in medicine is increasing to the point where genetic improvement is inevitable. Steven presents his position on the matter in his thesis statement; “But when it come to direct genetic enhancement-engineering babies with genes for desirable traits-there are many reasons to be skeptical.” He makes it clear that genetic enrichment is not particularly inevitable or likely in our lifetime. He bases his skepticism around three sources; the limits of futurology, science of behavioral genetics, and human nature.
Sarah Ly is a PhD candidate at the University of Pennsylvania where she studied biomedical sciences and neurobiology and at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory where part of her work involved genes and genomics. Ly received the National Merit Scholarship as well as the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship. In her article, “Ethics of Designer Babies,” author Sarah Ly explains that the concept of in vitro fertilization has become a reality and with that, genetically engineered embryos are evolving, thus many people believe regulations are needed. The article states that many believe it should just be used when the child is at risk of a genetic disease and should not be used to permit parents to decide the fate of their children by picking traits.
To choose for their children, the world’s wealthy class will soon have options such as tall, pretty, athletic, intelligent, blue eyes, and blonde hair. Occasionally referred to as similar to “the eugenics of Hitler’s Third Reich” (“Designer Babies” n.p.), the new genetics technology is causing differences in people’s opinions, despite altering DNA before implantation is “just around the corner.” (Thadani n.p.). A recent advance in genetically altering embryos coined “designer babies” produces controversy about the morality of this process.
Genetically engineered babies also known as “Designer Babies” are children that are modified to your wants and desirer in what you want your child to look like. Typically women only use this procedure if they are infertile. The women decide what hair, eye color, or gender the baby is by doing this procedure. In this essay, I will explain how they’re made, the different religious debates about it, and why you shouldn’t do it.
Institute of Biological Sciences. (n.d.). Designer Babies: Ethical Considerations (ActionBioscience). ActionBioscience - promoting bioscience literacy. Retrieved July 8, 2010, from http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/agar.html?print
During World War II, Adolf Hitler was determined to create a “master race” of people with white skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. He believed people possessing these specific traits were superior over others, and that these “superior humans” should be the only people in existence. To put his beliefs into action, he enforced abolishment of those considered to be “inferior humans”, breeding of people who met his requirements, and scientific experimentation to change people’s outward appearances to his ideal. Are modern day “designer babies” any different? After all, they are created by following a certain criteria of what someone wants them to be. I believe that although there are situations in which this science is needed (such as serious medical conditions of the child the science is being performed on). However, when it comes to using this science to create your ideal child, it’s immoral and going against nature, and people’s good intentions can lead to bad circumstances.
Some scientist have said that parents have the right to decide the fate of their child. (Ly 1) According to bioethicist James Hughes, “If you think women have the right to control their bodies, then they should be able to make this choice.” James also believe that the term “designer babies” insults parents. The term insinuates that the parents do not think about the child when making the decision to design the child. (Naff 37) However, parents possess certain control over their child by selecting the environment the child grows up in. This choice helps pardon some ethical concerns associated with selection of traits for designer babies. (Ly 1)
In “Designer babies: an ethical horror waiting to happen? Philip Ball explains there is a possibility for designer babies in the near future but the question is, how close are we to being able to perfect genes to make the “perfect baby” and should we even try to “design” babies? According to Ball in his essay, “Designer babies: an ethical horror waiting to happen?” Aldous Huxley’s, Brave New World is a focal point for media discussion of genetic manipulation and the message is that we are heading towards babies being made in numbered test tubes. Ball suggests the aim for picking and choosing embryos through IVF will be to attract consumers and not to engineer babies to be similar. Ball emphasizes that “designer babies” in reality means freedom
“It 's not easy as “I want to buy and egg,” states, the director of the Donor Egg Bank, Brigid Dowd. “Not everyone realizes what 's involved, and then when they hear the cost, many just pass out.” (CGS: Designing the $100,000 Baby,” par. 13) It is a fact that having certain traits are valuable, so this shows that the mere modification used on the designer baby, the more the cost. “If you are too rigid or become too obsessed with finding the perfect image you have in mind, the choice can become more difficult,” says Dowd. (“CGS: Designing the $100,000 Baby,”par. 16) The practice of human genetic modification will not be fair because only the wealthy will have enough money to spend on designing a baby. Therefore, the wealthy will have much more advantages such as longer, healthier, and successful lives. If only people of high class are able to afford designer babies, it will cause an even greater inequality between the rich and the poor (“The Ethics of Designer Babies”). It will also create a society based on “Social Darwinism”- The survival of the fittest. If creating designer babies will cause more inequalities and Social Darwinism, why should we allow this practice? (“The ethics of Designer Babies”)
Since 1990, scientists have been able to use preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). This technique has allowed for the genetic analysis and modification to occur to embryos before the transfer into the uterus (Cohen, 2016). With this advancement, scientists are able to use the CRISPR-CAS9 protein to splice out certain genetic sequences and enhance a baby’s genes before they are born (Sas and Lawrenz, 2017). Scientists have been using the name “designer baby” for this procedure. However, there has been a growing debate put on the subject of designer babies and genetic engineering. As technology becomes a stronger aspect in our society, we are able to manipulate genes for favorable conditions. This aspect of science is ground-breaking and extremely intriguing. However, there is always the moral question whether or not that genetically selecting qualities for your child is ethical. Parents have the choice whether or not to enhance their children to become more athletic, smarter or even prettier. One could essentially genetically modify the perfect human. However, most parents these days are not genetically modifying their
The concept of designer babies has been around for some time, with the first gene therapy test occurring in 1990. It is still in a developmental stage, but in recent years, people have begun to pay more attention to this technology. It is expected to be ready for business, to some extent, in the coming years. Aside from medical concerns, people also question the morals of the process. Is it okay for us to play god and dictate the genetic makeup of unborn babies?
In today’s society parents are able to “design” their unborn baby with the use of human cloning technology. This is an indecisive topic for many parents or ordinary people due to everyone having different perspectives. The overall message is to determine through background information, pro’s, and con’s if designer babies should be affected in today's society of not.
A parent’s desire to create a perfect child has led to the development of designer babies. During the 19th and 20th century, the United States and Europe became curious about how they could promote birth to the higher classes of society because it was believed that they were more preferable. The goal was to reduce pregnancies of the lower class. Consequently, parents were able to do prenatal screening on their babies in the 1950s which led to genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is a procedure for parents to be able to design their baby by choosing their traits such as gender, facial appearance, but can also include getting rid of diseases. The idea of altering babies caused parents to side with their desires of a different gender or flawless babies. A variety of prenatal testing developed over the decade that led to IVF, in vitro fertilization – a
As well as affecting the society as a whole in the long run. Designer babies, a term used by journalists, are described as “advanced reproductive technologies allowing parents and doctors to screen embryos for genetic disorders and for selecting healthy embryos” (Bionet). There are three ways that can be used to create this “designer baby”. “The simplest way to a designer child is human cloning: taking a cell from an adult and combining it with a human egg to make an identical clone of the adult. This is the ultimate pedigree child with guaranteed genes [.]
The horizon of gene technology broadens everyday along with the imagination of every human being. Designer babies, a rather amusing as well as a controversial field in science, could one day change the living world. The term ‘designer babies’ is used by people like journalists. A more scientific term would be ‘genetically modified babies’. Designing babies is actually more of a general term as this covers lots of different areas within.