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The ethics of designer babies
The ethical dilemma of designer babies
The ethical dilemma of designer babies
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Vitro-Fertilization or the coined term “designer baby” is when the DNA of a embryo is changed according to what the parents are looking for. It involves changing the genetic makeup of a child to delete a defect or add a gene that parents want present. Although designer babies might sound appealing, there are many concerns surrounding this topic, including mental concerns, health problems, and ethical principles. One of the largest problems regarding designer babies is mental health concerns. The first concern starts with the deciding of traits. When parents decide what traits they want their children to possess it takes away the uniqueness, and decision making of a child. Before they are born they already have their lives planned for them. A child might feel obliged to do well at that skill to please their parents. This can be a heavy burden on a child (Blair, 2015). In a study published on July 20, 2016, it showed that people …show more content…
There are many different areas to consider while looking at ethics. Looking at the idea of religion, many people believe that God made this beautiful baby exactly how he or she should be (What Are the Ethical Issues Regarding Designer Babies, 2014). This view can also play a role while viewing Pro-Life values. In the case of Molly Nash, 12 embryos were created in a lab to have only one of those 12 selected. This means that the other 11 embryos died, because they simply didn’t meet the genetic makeup that the parents were looking for (Pros and Cons of Designer Babies). Along with selection comes the worry that a sort of “supreme race” will come into play. In circumstances of height, hair and eye color, and pigment of skin there are certain desirable traits. Some would even compare Adolf Hitler’s belief in a supreme race of blond; blue eyed people to designer babies (What Are the Ethical Issues Regarding Designer Babies,
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.
Neoeugenics is the idea of new, “neo”, eugenics or a new way of creating a healthier race. Eugenics was first defined in the late 1800s by a man named Sir Francis Galton who said that it was basically the study of traits that will cause an advantage or disadvantage in the traits of future generations. Eugenics soon turned from being about the use of artificial selection of breeding to create a stronger species, to being about the advancement of certain races over others. When talking about neo eugenics, it is believed that it may turn into something similar to that of eugenics in that the use of artificial selection would now be used to bring the upper class higher in standards of health and wellbeing as well as beauty. Others believe that the use of neo eugenics will help create a healthier, more stable species. Whether bad or good, the way that eugenics will advance will be in designer babies.
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...
The meaning, significance, and definition of race have been debated for centuries. Historical race concepts have varied across time and cultures, creating scientific, social, and political controversy. Of course, today’s definition varies from the scientific racism of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that justified slavery and later, Jim Crow laws in the early twentieth. It is also different from the genetic inferiority argument that was present at the wake of the civil rights movement. However, despite the constantly shifting concepts, there seems to be one constant that has provided a foundation for ideas towards race: race is a matter of visually observable attributes such as skin color, facial features, and other self-evident visual cues.
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,
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.
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.
Yudell, M. (2011) A short history of the race concept. Race and the Genetic Revolution:
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.
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.
A designer baby is a child who is genetically modified for the purpose of removing any defects that are genetically linked, and/or to select certain genes that appeal to the parents. This process of creating designer babies is called genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is the alteration of DNA by adding and/or removing certain genes. Since the discovery of human genetic modification, scientists have proposed the idea of
Foht, Brendan P. "Three-Parent Embryos Illustrate Ethical Problems with Technologies." Medical Ethics, edited by Noël Merino, Greenhaven Press, 2015. Current Controversies. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,
Should Parents be allowed to choose the Genetics of their Child? There are constantly new technologies that permit ideas most people have never even encountered. One of the most recent ideas consists of parents changing the genetics of their child; designer babies. These genetic alterations were first produced with a revolutionary technique, preimplantation, in the U.S in 2000, when Adam Nash was born.
What is Designer babies? It is a baby whose genetic makeup has been selected in order to get rid of a particular defect, or to ensure that a particular gene is present. Even though there are many questions about genetically modifying babies for being ethical. There are many pros to making a desinger baby.
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