Should Prenatal Engineering Be Allowed Essay

Have you ever heard of the capability to genetically engineer a child? Neither have many of the others around you. There are babies that are born through in-vitro fertilization, a process by which a baby is conceived outside the body and then genetically altered (or personalized) to meet the requirements of this babies’ parents. They could possibly alter a gene that codes for cancer, or simply change their child’s hair to curly, because that is what they prefer. It seems simple, doesn’t it? Well, it isn’t quite that simple.
According to livescience.com, experts have debated on whether prenatal engineering should be banned in the United States. This is one of those topics, like abortion, that can be interpreted in many different ways. I also

believe that genetic engineering should be banned in the United States.
One of the major things that is argued is whether or not genetic modification is ethical. In my eyes, it is not. Who are we to mess with nature? It will be very hard for our economy to set guidelines for it (Sivapatham). Ethics differ widely among the country. What I believe may be very controversial to the person sitting across from me believes, just like abortion and those other touchy subjects. It is very difficult to set guidelines that work well with everyone.
Genetic modification also questions many religions. While I am not here to tell you what to believe in, I am here to say that genetic modification is wrong, and this is one of the very many reasons that does apply to many people. Christians will be theologically pressed to think through questions of morality and how both nurture and nature influence those questions (McKenzie). This will confuse many people to their religion and as to the real reason they are doing this. They will most likely not agree because it isn’t the plan coming from God.
Judgment will more than likely be put upon those who decide to take the route of genetic modifications. According to _____.com, one might think, however, that being forced to endure the effects of genetic disease that could potentially be prevented by genetic modification is likely to be more of an insult to dignity than being cured! The children who are growing up and facing the rumors of the fact that their parent didn’t want them the way they were supposed to be, and may be tormented growing up. Why would you want to put your child through that? Someday you would have to explain to them that you didn’t want them the way they were supposed to be. There are many, many ethical reasons concerning the concept of GMO’s in embryos.
There are also many consequences that could come to surface from this. This may rid of certain diseases, but how are we to know that new ones won’t arise? Even scientists themselves believe that genetic engineering can have irreversible side effects, especially with hereditarily modified genes In the event that they replace other important genes instead of the mutated ones, other forms of diseases or health conditions are likely to develop. ( ) We really have no clue if a deadly disease could spring from this.
They are also unable to predict the complications due to this. If scientists genetically engineer babies still in the womb, there is a very real and present danger that this could lead to complications, including miscarriage (early on), premature birth or even stillbirth, all of which are unthinkable. If scientists genetically engineer babies still in the womb, there is a very real and present danger that this could lead to complications, including miscarriage (early on), premature birth or even stillbirth, all of which are unthinkable. This may put the parents through something they could never even imagine. They may have had a normal child in the beginning, and then completely lose them.
Another thing we will need to consider is overpopulation.

A couple of decades is not really so far away, that could be within our lifetime that we may see the effects of overpopulation; changes in the environment, poverty, famine, disease, fresh water shortage, etc. Now while this might not be a big effect now, but looking into the future this could have a large impact on our economy. I think this concept could have detrimental effects due to the consequences.
There comes a point when this could be taken too far. When is enough, enough? If the hair color of a child is the most important thing to you that is completely wrong. These scientists could be researching cures for diseases we have today, yet they are spending hours and hours on how to customize their kid.
What if there starts to be an overpopulation of a gender? For instance in China, where is it much more preferable to have a boy. I believe in certain countries that there would be an overpopulation of men, because they are often viewed as stronger than a female.
Another thing to take into consideration if genetic mutations. “But altering the so-called germline in this manner has long been considered off-limits. That's because such changes can be passed down to future generations.” This could also become a mutation that would not have a cure because of the changing in the

DNA.
Others believe this helps prevent genetic disorders, helps individuals have a better life, helps deepen understanding of genes, and allows parents to choose baby’s traits. I can see where they are coming from, I also think they need to take in to consideration the detrimental effects they will have. I do not need to prove them wrong because I have already stated reasons to why all of these are false.
I believe genetic engineering should be banned in the United States. So “what now?” Now our generation needs to be sure that we don’t think of this as an ‘okay’ thing to do. Changing your kid to your perfect idea is not okay. We need to work together to get rid of this disgusting idea. Our generation of children could be the first to have these sort of things done to them.
“With the advent of genetic engineering the time requires for the evolution of the new species may literally collapse.”