Designer babies: our future?

The power to change the human species is an issue of great importance. Genetic scientists believe, in the next few decades, we might be able to design our future babies—to choose the features we want our children to have even before they are born. For example, we could choose to have a beautiful, intelligent, or warm-hearted child.

In addition, we might be able to have our unborn child’s genes tested to detect any genetic disorders and have doctors modify a defective gene or even replace it to make sure our child is born disease-free. Advances in genetic engineering techniques may soon give us this power to change the human species, but do we want that power?

It’s important to think about this question. It raises serious ethical questions: Would this technology be available only for the rich? What if everyone decided to have only boys? What if everyone chose to have only extremely intelligent babies? What if people chose characteristics for their babies for the wrong reasons? What if...? What if...?

Read this BBC World News article, Designing babies: the future of genetics to learn more.

Post a comment. What is your opinion about genetically engineering a child? Is it right to choose or change a child's genes? Why or why not?

Comments

[whizzayyy]

designer babies is right people should have the rights to choose if they want a baby to their standards

[mAsTur cEef]

I haz ReCon

LOLOLOLOOLOLLOLO

[Rebecca Gothard]

im also doing a case study on 'designer babies' for my coursework and personally i do think its a good idea to help ill children in that way, but no more only to help the ill sibling with the unbilical chord i dont think it should escalate to anything more ,like picking what your child should look like or what personality they have .That is wrong !

[Mongo Madness]

Stop thinking about cosmetical changes people, sure when you have the opportunity to alter a humans genetic structure you could alter them on a cosmetic basis, but think about blood-borne diseases, epidemics that have been puzzling the scientific and medical world for the past decade. If these types of diseases and infections become outnoded, the scientific world can look to the horizon - the future of society, rather than focus on issues that haven't made much progress for centuries. Seriously, if the oppurtunity comes, people must get their logic running a lot deeper than physical/cosmetic enhancement, there is plenty of that going on already. You could stop heredity based diseases - saving peoples lives and the communities in which they live in. The only irrelevant thing that should be altered is to change whether if the unborn fetus is going to push mongo, because that seriously needs to be stopped. I guess mongo is an epidemic that has puzzled the skateboarding industry for a while too :) Props to the scientists of the modern world that will allow for this to happen.

[Mr X]

Hello all.

I would just like to say that anyone who disagrees with designer babies is so STUPID!

Designer babies are the way of the future. No noobs should talk about a movie in this forum, do some research you tards! Im one of the leading scientists in the field of Genetical Mutation in Unborn Children.

Customising babies will all but enilate every known disease on the planet. We can enhance our childrens immune system to reject every disease. The world will be a smarter, safer and overall better place.

Anyone that disagrees can suck it!

[Clare Smith]

Hello, i am writing to say that i do not agree with designing babies because everyone should appreciate their child no matter how they turn out to be. By choosing what they turn out to be like is harsh!

[Amanda]

The movie G.A.T.T.A.C.A. is about this same situation gone wrong.

The people that had these "designer babies" were at the high point in society, they were considered basically perfect. The parents who couldn't afford to alter the embryos, and had the "regular" children, were looked down upon. They were spit on and discrimminated just because they were normal and born naturally with no alteration. Do we really want this is our society? I think not!!! How would you feel if someone was always better than you, and it wasn't because they tried harder, it was just because they were just born better?

[Amanda]

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE MOVIE G.A.T.T.A.C.A??????

[gigi]

Designer babies is a very bad thing it treats the babies harshly and cruel

[Steve Young]

There are already many chemicals (both 'natural' and 'synthetic') which change gene expression in adults. We are starting to intentionally use these and other techniques to modify our genetic traits for the better. In an unmodified form, our bodies have many limitations which can be overcome via these techniques. We now have the ability to 'enhance' the very code that makes us, why not take advantage of this in a way that will improve the lives of all individuals? Before we started using medical technologies, many people lived brutal and short lives. This is just one more step to transcending what we were. Using our minds that natural evolution produced, we can now accelerate evolution itself through technology. Human beings have not yet reached the limits of our potential by any means.

[john smith]

Designer babies are a bad idea because....

[Carmen]

I think that the world is beautiful because each person has his own personality so I disagree to designer babies I only agree when if is possible with genetics to prevent serious illnesses.

[Mel]

I am doing a case study at the moment about designer babies and I have realised more people disagree than agree, but me personaly I disagree. You should be happy with your child and I definitely will not.

[Akito]

Designer babies could be a good thing, but we really should be careful about the whole, "Let's just create millions of one gender!" idea.

But if designing a child could save a life, or it's own life for that matter, then yeah, it won't be that bad! :)

[Lee Kyoung Bok]

If all parents require one kind of sex, we will experience an asymmetrical rate of sex. What if all parents just want a boy? We would soon suffer from a lack of girls. It will get harder to get married little by little. Also, we might face more sexual crimes.

[Seon Mi]

Genetic engineering will become an ethical problem in society, but every parent hopes to have perfect babies who are intelligent, tall, beautiful and kind and have no defective genes. If genetic engineering is possible, we won't have babies who have problems.

[Jiro]

I think parents should have the right to reject the embryos which they know, as a result of testing of genes, will have fatal diseases at birth. However, I cannot agree with "designing”babies which means to add characteristics in order to eliminate undesirable characteristics. Now, I am sure that nobody can stop the birth of a superhuman somewhere in the near future.

[Adel]

I think a designed baby is wrong. If most parents custom-built their babies, this world would have similar persons. Parents want their babies to be smart, pretty and intelligent and so on. So if all the most babies were perfect, they would not have competition. As a result, our society would be boring and sluggish, so I am against designing babies.

[Eugene Rhim]

I saw a movie, named 'Gattaca'. The story of this movie is very similar to this article. I was scared while watching the movie. Designer babies are good for the parents, but they have to think about the side effects to society. It could be that they are not small problems.

[Great Andy]

It is wrong. It is not Divine Providence. We all have our own individuality. If we genetically engineer all our babies, the world will change in a negative way. There will be only clever men, so how can we control them? Also, if we want to look ood, we will all have almost the same face. Genetic engineering of babies will cause many problems. Our individuality may disappear.

[Justin]

I don't agree with genetically engineering a baby. Our babies are not "Robots." Humans can not make humans. I believe in a human being's destiny. We must make our lives ourselves. I just want my baby, not a designed baby. I am strongly against custom designing a baby. If we designed all our babies, the Earth would be unbalanced. Humans can destroy everything.

[Ilsoo Yoon]

I cannot say it is right or wrong. The final decision is made by a baby's parents. However, personally, I don't agree with changing babies' genes. If parents can choose their babies' future, there will be no low class workers, and the world will be a full of confusion.

[Jun, Mi Hyang]

If parents make their baby smarter, more intelligent, and more beautiful, most of them will like that. However, if some other parents don't do that, we will have a big problem in society.

[Yumi]

Genetic engineering will cause serious problems. For example, if most people want to choose or change their baby's gender, the proportion of males to females will not be equal.

[Ki]

Before having designed babies, think about the purpose of parents. Every parents hope that their children to be healthy. It's just expectation. The more important thing is how to grow your children. That's more close to the parent's purpose. The love is the best available vaccine in the world.