What is a designer baby you may ask. Well, "designer babies" is the term being used by the media to describe the future of modifying or selecting our children's genes for desirable characteristics (medical and cosmetic). This significantly reduces the chances that a child will be born with a genetic disorder. In this process, they use reproductive techniques involving InVitro Fertilization or IVF to fertilise eggs with sperm in 'test tubes' outside the mother's body in a labratory. Legally, there are only two ways that designer babies can be created. One of these ways is by choosing the type of sperm that will fertilise the egg. The other is by screening embryos for a genetic disease, and then only putting back the selected embryos in the mother's womb.To think, we have advanced so ahead in technology that we can choose the desirable characteristics that we want our babies to have! It sounds pretty cool, don't you think? But, it is just unethical. Sure, by screening embryos for a genetic disease we are able to prevent the future children of this world from having any sort of disease by replacing their faulty sections of DNA with healthy DNA. We can have the baby that we always dreamed of. Sounds like a dream come true.. or more like an unbelievable scene from a science fiction book. Who would have thought that we would come to this point in life? We've created all the objects that are in our life, and now we are creating the people in our life as well!?
Not only is designing our babies wrong in my opinion, it is also financially draining. Doing this is very expensive, and couples really should take into consideration their financial status. They also need to consider how their child will be affected by being a designer baby. There are many high risks when it comes to these genetic enhancement experiments. By doing this we are losing our social and ethical values. We are changing how God has planned us to be. Just think about it, in the near future we will be divided even more. There's already criticism on many people's parts about being "perfect." Now this will just grow even stronger and result in more division. We will have our "perfect" designer babies and then we will have those who were created without the use of genetic enhancements. Do we really want this? Do we want to lose the uniqueness of each and every one of our children? We should embrace everything that God has to give to our children and not try to change it.
Yet, some people will actually be for this. They want their children to have the best that they can have. This even includes removing the obesity gene, or any undesirable gene that will only bring them suffering in life. But think about it. Isn't life made worth while with all the suffering that we have to endure? Sure, we want the best for our child, and having the oppurtunity to give them the best is great. Yet, there are always cons with the pros. Soon, this will all just turn into a competition. A competition as to which person has the better looking baby. People may think twice about this, but hopefully they won't do it. Babies and science shouldn't mix. Sure, it can cure diseases which is what we all want. A cure, right? But is this really the way to go? Well, I don't know how this will turn out. It can go either way. We'll just see what the future has in store for us. To design a baby or to not design a baby, that is the question.Sources:
4 comments:
I agree that that we, humans, have come a long way from inventing things, then this, "designing" babies. I also agree that just the very idea of "designing" babies is ultra-cool and awesome. I, again, agree with you when you said that we are taking this technology too far.
Like you, I believe that we shouldn't interfere on how a child will develop. So what if the baby has black eyes, or brown, or blue, or whatever colour? So what if the baby has a hair that's curly or frizzy or straight or whatever shape or texture. So what if the baby is fat or skinny or just okay? So what if the baby is not very ahtletic or intelligent? These are what makes us all unique. All of us have our own unique characteristics and features. We don't want to be somebody else's copy.
I also think that the parents are putting too much pressure on their children by expecting them to be the "model" or the "perfect" child they want to be. The children are their own little beings and they will grow to have separate lives from their parents.
I also agree with you that there will be a possible "breeding" division among us, humans. This technology is very expensive so, not only there would be a "genetic discrimination" but the gap between the rich and the poor would be much larger and more emphasized.
I think that you did a great job in your blog. (^_^)
I am going to try this again since my comments to you somehow does not appear and they end up lost in space.
I totally agree with what you are saying about humans being somewhat obesessed with finding perfection. The quest for it have to an extent that people are willing to go against ethical practices just to get it. Imagine that, designing a baby just beacuse we want them to suit our wants when we are taught as Catholics to accept everyone no matter who they might be, more so if it were to be their own children.
The church and science have always clashed though, so I am not that surprise that they are arguing even in this issue. The future really do soound interesting, but at the same time terrifying. It is very much like a bad science fiction where in the end people will be regreting what they have done.
I agree that we're playing God when we make decisions such as eye colour or removing genes that create undesirable results in appearance. However I think that this technology can be used for medical purposes, like getting rid of genetically linked ailments. I think it would be rather unfair to say that we shouldn't be screening embryos for these genes and removing them because it's how God decided them to be. Otherwise I argue that this technology and our possible use of it for cosmetic purposes is terrifying and sending out the wrong message. Society's never ending search for perfection is promoting this idea, which is seriously unhealthy.
"There's already criticism on many people's parts about being 'perfect'"
I very much agree with you on this. It is true that society has been stretching the idea that perfection is a good thing, and I don't think it's morally right to promote that. And it really all depends on the parent's intentions, whether they are going to do it because of their baby's illness, or just because they want them to be tall.
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