Science is undeniably becoming apart of our everyday lives as a society. Scientists are always coming up with new ways to create life. When we procreate we should not alter the baby and its physical features. This kind of practice is also known as gene editing, or vitro fertilization, which is where you can modify or replace a gene that can change the DNA in a living organism. This kind of technology can help get rid of hereditary diseases, choose the gender and physical features of the baby, and create a savior child. As a society we should not be selfish and do things that would only benefit us. We need to be more considerate of the decisions we make because they can have an affect on another person’s life. This kind of technology also contradicts …show more content…
Heape was able to influence other scientists to help create the first baby created in a test tube, to help infertile women have babies, and the first designer baby was created in 2000 in the United States. When creating the first designer baby doctors were able to use a “screening technique” that tested the embryos of the parents to find an exact match of DNA to their daughters’, who suffered from a genetic disorder called Fanconi Anemia. Fanconi Anemia causes a bone marrow deficiency and the only way they found an exact match was by creating a “savior child” (Designer Babies). A savior child is a child that is born through Vitro Fertilization to be a donor of cells and organs to their sibling with a life-altering disease (Oxford Dictionary). Savior babies have been proven to actually save lives, but it can also raise an ethical concern for the savior baby …show more content…
The parents are thinking about themselves and what their wants are rather than thinking about would be best for their child. Philippians 2:4-8 says, “Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.” God has always put our needs before anything else, even if he shows it in an interesting way. In Philippians 2:3 it also says, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another.” Parents should start thinking about how Vitro Fertilization would impact their child in the future, especially since it still in the experimental
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.
Recent high profile cases, films and books all around the world including the UK, Australia and the United States have brought to the public’s attention a new type of IVF. ‘Embryo Selection’ meaning ‘Embryos are fertilised outside the body and only those with certain genes are selected and implanted in the womb.’ Henceforth meaning that doctors are now able to select specific embryo’s and implant them into the mother of who may have another sick child in order to gain genetic material such as bone marrow which will match the ill-fated child and therefore hopefully be able to save their life. Creating a ‘saviour sibling’. ‘A child conceived through selective in vitro fertilization as a potential source of donor organs or cells for an existing brother or sister with a life-threatening medical condition’ a definition given by Oxford Dictionaries (1.0). Cases of this are happening all around the globe and many are highly documented about. The most famous case could be noted as in the fictional book of ‘My Sisters Keeper’ By Jodi Picoult. I will further discuss this throughout my dissertation and how books and films can affect the view on certain ethical subjects. Furthermore, I am also going to discuss a range of factors such as certain religious beliefs and the physical creation of saviour siblings compared to the creation of designer babies. Strong views are held by many both for and against the creation of saviour siblings.
After the discovery of genetically altering an embryo before implantation, “designer babies” was coined to describe a child genetically altered “to ensure specific intellectual and cosmetic characteristics.” (“Designer Babies” n.p.). This procedure combines genetic engineering and In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) to make sure certain characteristics are absent or present in an embryo (Thadani n.p.). The procedure also includes taking an embryo to be pre-implementation genetically diagnosed (PGD), another procedure that doctors use to screen the embryos (Stock n.p.). An embryo’s DNA goes through multiple tests to obtain an analysis of the embryo, which will list all the components of the embryo including genetic disorders and physical traits such as Down syndrome, blue eyes, and brown hair, for instance (Smith 7). Although the use of PGD is widely accepted by the “reproductive medical community” and the modifying of disorders or diseases is to a degree, once the characteristics are no longer health related “72% disapprove of the procedure” (“Designer Babies” n.p.). At this point the parents make decisions that would alter their child’s life forever and this decision is rather controversial in the U...
In recent years, great advancement has been made in medicine and technology. Advanced technologies in reproduction have allowed doctors and parents the ability to screen for genetic disorders (Suter, 2007). Through preimplantation genetic diagnosis, prospective parents undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) can now have their embryo tested for genetic defects and reduce the chance of the child being born with a genetic disorder (Suter, 2007). This type of technology can open the door and possibility to enhance desirable traits and characteristics in their child. Parents can possibly choose the sex, hair color and eyes or stature. This possibility of selecting desirable traits opens a new world of possible designer babies (Mahoney,
For just thousands of dollars more, women going through in vitro fertilization can later choose to have a certain gender with perfect vision, a great heart, a natural ability for sports, and being able to avoid diseases (Angelle). Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis was first inaugurated in 1990. “It has become an important complement to the presently available approaches for prevention of genetic disorders and an established clinical option in reproductive medicine” (Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis). This has come in handy because it gives you the opportunity to create a baby free of health risks and you are able to freeze your eggs if you miscarry or if something harmful goes wrong with the first egg. Designer babies are created using In Vitro Fertilization. Using this technique, doctors can fertilize the egg with sperm inside the laboratory using a test tube. Doing so you can reduce the chance of the child being born with a genetic disorder and the parents can actually then on choose the sex of the baby. In some cases couples have used PGD to their advantage to save one of their children. Some babies sole purpose is to be created to save the life of their own sibling. Jamie was the first “designer” baby in Britain. “He was genetically matched to his four-year-old brother, Charlie, in the hope to curing a rare type of anaemia which threatens the older boy...
In vitro fertilization is a procedure to treat the genetic failure in the ovaries that allow a women to naturally conceive a child. Today’s advancements in technology has changed the in vitro fertilization market in many different ways. Personally being a product and witness of the “test tube” baby generation, I understand the happiness and completeness a family experiences when these procedures are successful. On the other hand, although people know a lot about this procedure, most don’t understand the negative effects it can have on families due to extreme technological advancements if government doesn’t enforce strict regulations on this market. I believe this market needs extreme government intervention in order to prevent the harmful future
Ghose, Tia. “Children to Order: The Ethics of ‘Designer Babies.’” Livescience. N.p., 13 Mar. 2014. Web. 3 May 2014. .
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 diseases, the genetic enhancement of human embryos is unethical when used to create "designer babies" with enhanced appearance, athletic ability, and intelligence.
The designer baby is a new hope for many families. Parents can satisfy anything for their children, even time, money, health and life. Looking children suffer from diseases and disabilities would be parents’ punishment. In addition, many diseases are heritage from generation to generation, such as cystic fibrosis, Huntington’s disease, Down syndrome, Duchene muscular dystrophy, celiac, Noonan syndrome and cancer. All of them cannot cure completely and follow children forever. Moreover, children with genetic diseases would have to spend their lives in hospital, and would miss school, playground and childhood. However, PGD allows doctors to remove disabilities genes from embryo and create a new healthy life. If it gives children better future, would we say no? According to the article “Introduction to Designer Bab...
People should not have access to genetically altering their children because of people’s views on God and their faith, the ethics involving humans, and the possible dangers in tampering with human genes. Although it is many parent’s dream to have the perfect child, or to create a child just the way they want, parents need to realize the reality in genetic engineering. Sometimes a dream should stay a figment of one’s imagination, so reality can go in without the chance of harming an innocent child’s life.
In my opinion, In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is one of the greatest breakthroughs in Medical Biotechnology in the last 50 years. Finding out you are infertile can be heart-breaking and distressing. After trying for long periods of time, some couples are not able to conceive. Thankfully, this problem many couples have can be fixed by In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), a process that was developed and used in Britain first more than 30 years ago by Doctors Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards. In 1978, the world’s first IVF baby was born into the world and since thousands and thousands of babies have been born every year using this method.
Test tube babies have long been stigmatized by society as the unnatural results of scientific dabbling. The words `test tube baby' have been used by school children as an insult, and many adults have seen an artificial means of giving birth as something perhaps only necessary for a lesbian woman, or a luxury item only available to the elite few. The reality is that assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have been helping infertile couples have children since 1978.1 The methods of in vitro fertilization, it's variants, and the other ART procedures are ways for persons that would otherwise have no hope of conception to conceive and, in a rapidly growing percentage of cases, give birth to healthy babies. As the technology has developed, the quality and range of assistance has developed as well. At present, the means of assisted reproduction and the capabilities of these procedures has grown at a somewhat dizzying pace. However, thought to the repercussions of the applications of ART are being disregarded to some extent while the public's knowledge and the understanding of embryologists and geneticists surges forward. It is possible given consideration to things such as the morality of these techniques, the unexplored alternative uses of these procedures, and the potential impact they posses that further development is unnecessary and possibly dangerous.
As a young adult, it may seem foolish to predict what your future family life will look like, especially in regards to children. Often times this reality is forced upon a select few, particularly homosexual couples; however, with the innovation of in vitro fertilization (IVF), a couple is met with promise and the hope of a successful family life. IVF can be described as a process by which a fetus is genetically formed in a laboratory setting. Though this process may seem unnatural in essence, it allows for a more diverse family arrangement through medical innovation. This procedure, though controversial, is seen by many as an advancement in the medical field and can be accredited to procuring a healthy child for an unfortunate family, whether
Many debilitating and severe unwanted diseases, genetic disorders and disabilities can be avoided through the creation of designer babies. A child's quality of life would be drastically increased if they evade Down Syndrome, deformities or heart disease for example. In a sense, it isn’t all that different to hearing aid, medication for an illness or chemotherapy for cancer, but on a larger scale and earlier in someone’s life, before it even really begins in fact. Some people would argue that changing genes is changing who people are, which they view as ‘wrong’, but genes aren’t exactly the only things that make up a person anyway. The way that they grow up and their surroundings also make people...
...ture generation healthier. There’s too many questions left unexplained and to many unknown facts about the human genome and how it works. We should not pursue this kind of science, but in fact work on bettering our environment to help influence the development of a healthier generation. Nature will evolve at its own pace, so let’s not take on the role of playing “god” and have a possibility of ending up with a genetic problem. Eventually and hopefully the 30 designer babies that have already been born, will grow and help scientist with their studies. Genetically engineering unborn babies is morally wrong and we shouldn’t alternate a human in anyway, especially if they can’t communicate. Why waste funds on alternating nature, when we can use it for other science that can benefit us other ways? Let’s prevent, what could end up in a major disaster and accept Darwinism.