Given the choice, would you rather have been born with different skin tone, eye color or hair color? Maybe you would have chosen to be taller, muscular, or even smarter. Of course, but some people don’t have this options. In the past few years science and medicine have made tremendous achievements concerning babies and genetic testing. A designer baby is a baby genetically engineered in vitro fertilization for specific selected traits. Which can vary from lowered disease-risk to gender selection. Designer babies should not be allowed because, they can be given too much intelligence, they wouldn’t be distinguishable from normal babies, and in the end it is unethical and immoral. To begin with, in vitro fertilization is an assisted reproductive …show more content…
The cons of designer babies are many. Designer baby’s require a lot of money to be invest into doctors. Doctors may not achieve what the baby will look like or be. That would cause controversy. Also designer babies would intensify the superficiality in todays society. A lot of people from todays society care way too much about appearance. So if only the rich could afford to design a designer baby the the rest of the world would lose confidence. So the rich would be the smarter and better looking class therefore they would feel and eventually be more powerful. In todays sports, gene doping is used to enhance athletic performance. Gene doping involves transferring genes rather than drugs into an athlete’s cells or tissues. Because the genes are the athlete’s own, they can not be detected by standard test. So therefor athletes are some what superior than us. Furthermore, designer babies are not guaranteed a success and are not a natural process of life. Since designing a baby its assured what would happen to the baby if his/her parents wouldn’t not consider them picture-perfect? The parents can't just get rid of the baby its a life after all. But the beauty of having a natural child is the excitement and anticipation of wondering what the child will look like or be like. Kids are a gift from god no matter if they are perfect or not …show more content…
To begin with there is a high possibility that in the near future, with the improving technology we will be able to chose the cosmetic appearances of a child. For instance deciding if the child should be tall, have green eyes or light colored hair. Since Preimplantation genetic diagnosis is use to test an embryo for genetic disorders, could it be that we could enhance the baby’s traits? Few say that preventing a disorder is justifiable while enhancing is not. It is difficult to to draw a line between preventing a disease and enhancing a trait. Many say cancer is a justifiable disease to prevent, But many think homosexuality is a disease as well. There are many considerations to take on and solve the issue. Another issue with designer babies is that we don't know what could or may happen to them 10 to 20 years from now. Would they still be healthy normal human beings? Or would they have health problems which may cause their death? No one has answers to these questions but another question arises is it safe or should we monitor designer babies until their death? and then allow designer babies. Also since the sex of the embryo can be chosen with the invention of PGD, would society have gender imbalance in the future. Many societies around the world still have gender preferences. For example some chinese believe that boys are better as they are smarter and
Once altered, the baby will have no say in how its cells are used, or traits they wish to keep but no longer will have the chance too. Some designer babies are created to help others through transplants. Even though the intention may be decent, it is still taking away the child's chance to have a choice in his body. Certain transplants are painful, such as a bone marrow transplant, and creating the child to be used as a donor could possibly put him through involuntary pain.
Designer babies are just like any other child and will grow up just as any other child will. The only difference between designer and normal babies are that designer babies are genetically modified. The genetic modifications would ideally include immunity to illnesses, choice of sex, physical characteristics, and mental and physical capabilities. The genetic modifications could be as little or as extensive as the parent would like but the doctors in charge would be able to recommend certain modifications in order to combat certain common family diseases. All of this would ultimately lead into more popular genes being passed down to the children and less and less modifications will be needed. This is able to be done because DNA or genes are the basis of all characteristics in organisms. As of yet, humans lack the technology and ...
Often times referred to as designer babies, I find this topic very interesting and believe that it should be discussed more. As for my stance on the topic, I think that it is a great idea but, however, only to an extent. I think that if we are capable of changing a baby's genes so that they will not develop a deadly or potentially harmful disease, then I am all for it. On the other hand, however, I am not supportive of parents who want to genetically modify their baby for beauty purposes. We should leave our appearances up to mother nature. I do not think it is right to change genes for appearance whether it be making teeth whiter, eyes and hair a specific color, or changing their genes responsible for height. Personally, the fatal disease, Alzheimer's runs in my family and I would love to be able to prevent my children from potentially carrying the gene. While it would be nice to be able to “design” my baby, the surprise is so much better. Not knowing whether your child will have blue or brown eyes and blonde or brown hair is a wonderful surprise in my opinion. The somewhat randomness makes us all unique. We should allow them to grow up while not having certain expectations following them around for their entire
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,
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.
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...
Scientists are also finding ways to eliminate diseases in babies. “In February, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) met to consider conducting clinical trials to test out genetic manipulation techniques to prevent mitochondrial disease from occurring in offspring” (Ghose). With all the advancements science has made, being able to cure and vaccinate against diseases isn’t much of a shock. But when will the ethics come into play? Designing a child is not natural.
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.
Designer babies are infants whose certain traits are chosen through a variety of scientific methods. In the United States, this science has been used for preventing and getting rid of serious medical conditions, such as different cancers and fatal diseases. However, it has been illegal to use it for traits you simply want your child to have, such as eye color, hair color, etc. Although this may be, there have been situations in which the rules have been bent, because there can be a fine line between medical needs and personal preferences.
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.
Although the advancement of genetic science has provided humans with the ability to choose their child’s sex, eye color, or even intelligence, some believe that it is highly immoral to commercialize this new found power. The Oxford English Dictionary defines eugenics as the science of improving the (especially human) population by controlled breeding for desirable inheritable characteristics (Suckling, 2000). The original purpose of the trait selection, called eugenics, was to check for certain disease-bearing genes. This allowed for parents to choose non-disease bearing embryos using In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) (Steere, 2008). The technology has recently been developing into detecting various other physical traits that will undoubtedly become abused by the general public if it is brought to the commercial market (Suckling, 2000).
Furthermore, another reason why creating designer babies is not ideal is that it will weaken diversity and uniqueness in our world. With human genetic engineering, humanity
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...
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...