Ethical Dilemmas: The Ethics Of Designer Babies

477 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Designer babies argumentative essay

In this collaboration, we discussed the ethics of designer babies. We started off with learning what ethics are. Ethics deal with what is morally good and bad according to humans. Science has reached a point where it’s no longer can we but should we and ethics provide us a means of answering the question of should we. After defining ethics we moved on to define what designer babies are. Designer babies are genetically modified people using CRISPR technology. They can be designed to be whatever the parents want and it is a source of ongoing debate in the science community and in this collaboration. We talked about designer babies in the main group and in our breakout groups and I played the role of relaying a summary of what our breakout group discussed …show more content…

By making everyone this ideal type everyone will end up looking the same and people will lose their individuality which isn’t ethical. Making designer babies with certain abilities takes away our choices. Some kids will be made through this technology to be super athletes or super scientists and will be given certain traits to make them stand out. However this dream for the kid isn’t chosen by the kid but rather by the parents. These parents have now forced their kid into a career path they may not want to go into thus taking away the freedom of choice from the kid. If a kid finds out they are a designer baby how are they going to react? Many kids may take this revelation as a sign of unwantedness or unworthiness. They may read being a designer baby as their parents didn’t want them as they were or didn’t think they were good and modified them to their standards. Our breakout group likened this mentality to a kid being a told they are adopted. There are already so many kids that are facing depression and similar feelings and giving another source for that isn’t

Show More
Related

  • Ethical Dilemmas of Genetically Engineering Human Embryos

    554 Words  | 2 Pages

    A person's individuality begins at conception and develops throughout life. These natural developments can now be changed through genetically engineering a human embryo. Through this process, gender, eye and hair color, height, medical disorders, and many more qualities can be changed. I believe genetically engineering a human embryo is corrupt because it is morally unacceptable, violates the child's rights, and creates an even more divided society.

    Read More

  • Neo-Eugenics The Social and Biological Ethics of Designer Babies

    1586 Words  | 4 Pages

    Catalano, Michael. "The Prospect of Designer Babies: Is It Inevitable?" The People, Ideas, and Things (PIT) Journal. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2014.

    Read More

  • Analyzing Ronald M. Green's 'Building Baby From The Genes Up'

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    SUMMARY: Director of the Ethics Institute, Ronald M. Green, in his article “Building Baby from the Genes Up” discusses why he thinks that genetically modifying babies genes is more beneficial than destructive. He begins his article off by mentioning a story of a couple who wishe to genetically modify their baby so that they could make sure the baby would not develop the long family line of breast cancer. Green then notifies the reader that no matter where they stand on the matter, genetically modifying babies is going to become more and more popular. Even the National Institute of Health is beginning to invest in technology that can be used to genetically modify human genes. He then explains how genetically modifying human genes can be beneficial,

    Read More

  • GATTACA

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, with genetic engineering this miracle of like is taken and reduced to petty “character creation” picking and choosing what someone else thinks should “make them special”. An unborn child that undergoes genetic treatments in this fashion is known as a designer baby (“Should Parents Be Permitted to Select the Gender of Their Children?”). By picking and choosing the traits of a child these designer babies bear similarities to abortion, choosing to get rid of the original child in favor of a “better” one. It is also unfair to deprive a child of their own life. By removing the element of chance and imputing their own preferences, children become treated more as an extension of their parents than as living beings with their own unique life. Parents could redirect a child’s entire life by imposing their wishes before they are even born, choosing a cookie cutter tall, athletic boy over a girl with her own individual traits, or any other choice that would redirect a child’s

    Read More

  • Designer Babies: Disease Free or New Child

    937 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Designer Babies Case Study

    1264 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, stakeholders are those who play a crucial part and stand to benefit, or lose from it. The four main stakeholders here are (1) the babies who are the most affected stakeholders, not able to make choices for themselves; (2) their parents who wants the best for their children; (3) the government who is accountable for the laws and regulations of PGD; and (4) the researchers or medical institutions who depend on government approval to research and allow medical institutions to carry out their work (Stakeholders in Designer Babies, 2009).

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Creating A Designer Baby

    669 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most people agree, in general, that designer babies are taking over and it is it’s a good thing. A designer baby is a human embryo that parents set , to produce desirable traits. According to Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection , Fertility Institutes in Los Angeles offered to let parents select their children’s hair and eye color. Crazy to think you’d be able to build your own baby. The process of creating this designer baby would be embryos modified to predetermine intellect , physical prowess , and beauty. People may question designer babies but “if you think women have the right to control their bodies , then they should be able to make this choice” right? (Citation?) There is a lot of science into creating a designer baby.

    Read More

  • Designer Babies: Genetic Engineering

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    What do one think of when they hear the words “Designer Babies”? A couple designing their own baby of course, and it’s become just that. Technology has made it possible for there to be a way for doctors to modify a babies characteristics and its health. Genetically altering human embryos is morally wrong, and can cause a disservice to the parents and the child its effecting.

    Read More

  • Genetic Enhancement is Unethical

    1603 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Ethical Issues On Reproductive Technology

    875 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ethics is the matter of the heart and when we discuss the heart we will all ways have conflict. Just for the simple fact that ethics in dealing with assisted reproductive technology is like a domino effect, when you answer one question another one arises. When we bring up the law in the United States about marital status and assisted reproductive technology (ART) you must be in a stable relationship, but what I found interesting is they have yet to define a couple, the relationship. Legislation does not allow discretion or the possibility that it was used, there is no grey area. Who qualifies; infertile couples, only married couples, gay couples, lesbian couples, HIV-positive couples what about the 60 year old couple that wants a baby. We are forgetting the single women who want babies also, who made up the rule that if you’re single you can not raise a child as well as a married couple. When bringing up people, we will naturally bring up autonomy.

    Read More

  • The Negative Effects Of Designer Babies

    1296 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most parents have the tendency to want what is best for their children so they are in the best condition possible. Designer babies have become a popular topic today. Even though designer babies are in effect to create a parents “perfect” child, still comes with many concerns. Designer babies can have both negative and positive effects on society.

    Read More

  • Designer Babies: What is Ethical?

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine a parent walking into what looks like a conference room. A sheet of paper waits on a table with numerous questions many people wish they had control over. Options such as hair color, skin color, personality traits and other physical appearances are mapped out across the page. When the questions are filled out, a baby appears as he or she was described moments before. The baby is the picture of health, and looks perfect in every way. This scenario seems only to exist in a dream, however, the option to design a child has already become a reality in the near future. Parents may approach a similar scenario every day in the future as if choosing a child’s characteristics were a normal way of life. The use of genetic engineering should not give parents the choice to design their child because of the act of humans belittling and “playing” God, the ethics involved in interfering with human lives, and the dangers of manipulating human genes.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Designer Babies

    1627 Words  | 4 Pages

    “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”)

    Read More

  • Designer Babies

    2069 Words  | 5 Pages

    Children and babies today hold the future. They control what the world’s future will be like and even how their future offspring will be. Many believe that designer babies have the power to change the future and develop a new world filled with “perfect humans.” “With so little control over the situation, most expectant parents say they don’t care what their baby looks like, ‘as long as it’s healthy.’ But secretly, they often have a dream baby in mind” (Bliss, 2012, p. 5). Parents can all agree that if their child is in a healthy condition, they are happy and thankful; however, every parent is guilty of wanting a child a certain way. If a parent could alter a child to be completely healthy with no diseases or ailments, have the perfect features and have the perfect personality, any parent would go beyond any limit to fulfill this. Designer babies are believed to have the possibility to complete this; however, the assertio...

    Read More

  • Designer Babies

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

More about Ethical Dilemmas: The Ethics Of Designer Babies

Open Document