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for a woman to have her favorite movie star’s child simply by collecting a few or his skin cells. Genetic technology is making it all a reality” (Tucker). Reproductive advances arrived so rapidly in recent decades that these types of reproductive interventions were viewed as being in the realm of science fiction only fifty years ago. Nonetheless, as far back, technology was already on the cutting edge of these kinds of modifications, with a medical intervention known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis, used on IVF patients. This process screened for hundreds of diseases, but was also used in gender selection and eye color (Tucker). But what of the moral and ethical component of this kind of genetic intervention and modification in 2067? I
Usage of genetic modification to pick and chose features and personality traits of embryos could conceivably occur in future times. Wealthy individuals could essentially purchase a baby with built-in genetic advantages (Simmons). Ethically, these seem immoral. Playing God and taking control over the natural way of life makes some understandably uneasy. Ultimately, religious and moral standpoints should play a role in the future of genetic engineering, but not control it. Genetic engineering’s advantages far outweigh the cost of a genetically formulated baby and
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,
The addition of a child into a family’s home is a happy occasion. Unfortunately, some families are unable to have a child due to unforeseen problems, and they must pursue other means than natural pregnancy. Some couples adopt and other couples follow a different path; they utilize in vitro fertilization or surrogate motherhood. The process is complicated, unreliable, but ultimately can give the parents the gift of a child they otherwise could not have had. At the same time, as the process becomes more and more advanced and scientists are able to predict the outcome of the technique, the choice of what child is born is placed in the hands of the parents. Instead of waiting to see if the child had the mother’s eyes, the father’s hair or Grandma’s heart problem, the parents and doctors can select the best eggs and the best sperm to create the perfect child. Many see the rise of in vitro fertilization as the second coming of the Eugenics movement of the 19th and early 20th century. A process that is able to bring joy to so many parents is also seen as deciding who is able to reproduce and what child is worthy of birthing.
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...
At one point in time, if someone was infertile then they couldn’t have kids. There was nothing that could be done. Not anymore. Now doctors can provide them another option called in vitro fertilization. Not only that but biomedical engineers have advanced this field to even greater extents. They can use gene manipulation to prevent certain genetic diseases such as asthma, muscular dystrophy and even greatly reduce the chances of disease rampant in the family history, such as breast cancer. One of these ways is the "three parent" idea. Reproductive surgeons will use the mother’s egg, but replace the mitochondria that contains the disease with second healthy mitochondria from a different mother resulting in three parents total. Contributing to the genetics of the offspring, scientists are projecting a new possibility: designer babies. These would be completely "customized" children. Manipulation of eye color, hair color, facial structure, height, size, numerous other changes are all possibilities. This is a modern field of medicine covering new ground. However these designer babies present major ethical issues. People feel scientists are taking full control of nature and lines are being crossed that shouldn't be. For example a scientist wanted her kid to look like her, therefore she implanted an embryo into herself and had a blonde hair blue eyed baby, just as she wanted, but should be genetically impossible. This research in designing a baby should be regulated; it is ideal for preventing devastating diseases that will worsen a human’s future life but completely controlling a baby's appearance and possibly their personality, though possible, should be illegal in the United States.
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.
Walters, LeRoy, and Julie Gage Palmer. Ethics of Human Gene Therapy. Oxford University Press, New York. 1997.
Aldous Huxley’s dystopian Brave New World is more than a warning against the dangers of technology; it is a prediction for the future that rings eerily true. Today we understand that many of the fantastical devices and practices imagined by Huxley are coming to life. Most notable is the practice of in vitro fertilization, something that was a mad scientist’s dream during Huxley’s time, and is today a commonplace practice. According to the National Institutes of Health, in vitro fertilization is “the joining of a woman’s egg and a man’s sperm in a laboratory dish” (Storck). The procedure was first performed successfully in 1978 and has since become widely used today by couples that desire a child and are unable to conceive by “natural” means.
Genetically modifying human beings has the possibility of greatly reducing/completely eradicating disease and could allow for longer lifespans within the near future. However, there are many issues associated with genetic engineering including being misused for ulterior motives and ethical problems. While there is good that can come from genetic engineering, the many detriments associated with it far outweigh the few positive outcomes. In his novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley’s idea of genetic modification is far more extreme and unethical than any current real world technologies, but if the technology continues to rapidly grow, Huxley’s future may not be that far off from the truth.
Human Genetic Engineering: Designing the Future As the rate of advancements in technology and science continue to grow, ideas that were once viewed as science fiction are now becoming reality. As we collectively advance as a society, ethical dilemmas arise pertaining to scientific advancement, specifically concerning the controversial topic of genetic engineering in humans.
Human genetic engineering can provide humanity with the capability to construct “designer babies” as well as cure multiple hereditary diseases. This can be accomplished by changing a human’s genotype to produce a desired phenotype. The outcome could cure both birth defects and hereditary diseases such as cancer and AIDS. Human genetic engineering can also allow mankind to permanently remove a mutated gene through embryo screening, as well as allow parents to choose the desired traits for their children. Negative outcomes of this technology may include the transmission of harmful diseases and the production of genetic mutations.
Scientists and the general population favor genetic engineering because of the effects it has for the future generation; the advanced technology has helped our society to freely perform any improvements. Genetic engineering is currently an effective yet dangerous way to make this statement tangible. Though it may sound easy and harmless to change one’s genetic code, the conflicts do not only involve the scientific possibilities but also the human morals and ethics. When the scientists first used mice to practice this experiment, they “improved learning and memory” but showed an “increased sensitivity to pain.” The experiment has proven that while the result are favorable, there is a low percentage of success rate. Therefore, scientists have concluded that the resources they currently own will not allow an approval from the society to continually code new genes. While coding a new set of genes for people may be a benefitting idea, some people oppose this idea.
Sir Robert Edwards was an English physiologist who always took an interest in the study of genetics. He was the mastermind behind the medical reproductive procedure called In-vetro fertilization (Johnson). Because of Sir Edwards’s extraordinary contribution to the medical field, women with predisposed fertility problems are possibly able to have children. Without IVF millions of people wouldn’t be living on Earth today. Although Sir Edwards IVF procedure is considered controversial, it certainly had, and continues to have, a huge impact on our society. Sir Edwards’ first successfu...
There are many issues in America today such as violence, drugs, teenage pregnancy that is on a rise. There is also abortion which is what I chose to write about today due to the fact that it has been such a controversial and important issue of my generation although it has been an ongoing issue for centuries going back to 2600 B.C when the first recipe for an abortion producing drug. Since the 19th century English common law forbade abortion. Abortion prior to quickening (feeling life) was a misdemeanor and a felony after that. In the early 1800s it was discovered that human life did not begin when she “felt life” but at fertilization. In 1869 the British Parliament passed the “Offenses Against the Persons Act” Eliminating the bifid punishment and dropping the felony punishment back to fertilization, so across the middle years of the 19th century each state passed their own laws against abortion. In 1967 the first two states to legalize abortion was Colorado and California and by June 1970 New York passed the first abortion on demand law with a 24 week limit it became the 16th state to allow abortion while the other states were still very restrictive and only allowing abortions for pregnancies due to rape, incest, life of the mother or severe fetal handicap.