Genetic Engineering The Perfect Child

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Recommended: persuasive arguments on designer babies

Modern society has an unquestionable preoccupation with perfection. Indulging in our vanities with things such as plastic surgery, veneers, botox, collagen, hair dye, and so on, have become a part of the socially acceptable norm. People do these things, and more, in an attempt to become their ideal selves. However, many are taking these practices to a completely new extreme, and are not stopping at just altering their own physical characteristics. With recent advances in medical science and technology, couples are now able to genetically modify embryos to create their ideal children. From gender, to eye color, hair color, height, body shape, and more, modern parents have the ability to leave little up to nature and take the designing of their child into their own hands. Whether it is ethical, or not, to engineer designer babies is a highly controversial topic with numerous pros and cons.

Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) is the contentious technology fertility specialists use to engineer what are commonly referred to as designer babies. There are countless experts, scientists, and physicians that fall on either side of the designer baby argument. In an article from CBS News, Dr. Arthur Caplan, Ph.D (director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania) counters fertility specialist Dr. Jeff Steinberg’s (director of Fertility Institute in Los Angeles) opinion on PGD. In the article Designer Babies: Creating the Perfect Child for CNN Tech, Richard Hayes, the Executive Director of The Center for Genetics and Society, made comments on this hot debate.

For centuries, people have been having beautiful, healthy children the au natural way. Many would argue that there is absolutely no reason to tamper with na...

... middle of paper ...

...t is hard to ignore the great opportunities this science can pose. Things can only get better as technology and knowledge advances.

With such a controversial science, there are obviously going to be numerous pros and cons. However, each person’s opinion will vary based upon his or her own moral values and beliefs. Using Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis to design babies is definitely a huge step for medical technology; yet, whether it is a step in the right or wrong direction is solely up to your own personal interpretation.

Works Cited

Kauffman, Hattie. ""Designer Babies" Ethical?" The Early Show - CBS News. CBS

News, 03 Mar. 2009. Web. 07 Mar. 2011. .

Steere, Mike. "Designer Babies: Creating the Perfect Child - Page 2 - CNN." Featured

Articles from CNN. CNN Tech, 30 Oct. 2008. Web. 07 Mar. 2011.

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