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 …show more content…
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
In the past 50 years, life expectancy has increased tenfold. Technology has allowed people to live longer, stay healthier, and be able to reproduce; we are looking towards and currently in and overpopulation. Also, the standards of living in third world countries are increasing. People are becoming wealthier and having much more children. By 2050, at the rate at which we are growing, there will be approximately 10 billion people living on earth. Also at the rate of resource consumption, there will not be enough food for everyone. With fresh water already being scarce, there would be a shortage. Most bodies of water will be polluted and certain countries will become dictators. There could be a war just because resources are limited; do you think humanity is ready for
Pam Jenkins is a 36 year-old woman that is 30 weeks into her third pregnancy. Since her pregnancy began, Pam has gained 20 pounds. Although Pam has reduced the amount that she smokes, she continues to smoke 5 cigarettes per day, which may cause some issues with her worry of another preterm birth. Another factor that could also cause complications is her delayed prenatal vitamin use. After logging her dietary intake within a 24 hour period into SuperTracker, I will be making recommendations on how she can alter her diet and lifestyle to ensure that Pam receives the nutrients she needs for herself and for her baby.
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.
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,
What do one think of when they hear the words “Designer Babies”? A couple designing their own baby of course, and it’s become just that. Technology has made it possible for there to be a way for doctors to modify a babies characteristics and its health. Genetically altering human embryos is morally wrong, and can cause a disservice to the parents and the child its effecting.
At one point in time, if someone was infertile then they couldn’t have kids. There was nothing that could be done. Not anymore. Now doctors can provide them another option called in vitro fertilization. Not only that but biomedical engineers have advanced this field to even greater extents. They can use gene manipulation to prevent certain genetic diseases such as asthma, muscular dystrophy and even greatly reduce the chances of disease rampant in the family history, such as breast cancer. One of these ways is the "three parent" idea. Reproductive surgeons will use the mother’s egg, but replace the mitochondria that contains the disease with second healthy mitochondria from a different mother resulting in three parents total. Contributing to the genetics of the offspring, scientists are projecting a new possibility: designer babies. These would be completely "customized" children. Manipulation of eye color, hair color, facial structure, height, size, numerous other changes are all possibilities. This is a modern field of medicine covering new ground. However these designer babies present major ethical issues. People feel scientists are taking full control of nature and lines are being crossed that shouldn't be. For example a scientist wanted her kid to look like her, therefore she implanted an embryo into herself and had a blonde hair blue eyed baby, just as she wanted, but should be genetically impossible. This research in designing a baby should be regulated; it is ideal for preventing devastating diseases that will worsen a human’s future life but completely controlling a baby's appearance and possibly their personality, though possible, should be illegal in the United States.
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.
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.
Every parent's dream of having the perfect baby with pretty eyes, hair, skin, and gifted abilities. Some parents have even taken drastic measures to ensure their babies are born with these gorgeous features and talents. Some parents are willing to genetically manipulate their embryos to create their perfect baby. Bio technology has allowed parents to piece together their ideal human being from their eye color to their mental and physical abilities. Genetic Manipulation in some eyes can be seen as wrong and right in the other if used for the right reasons. I believe that scientists should use this new technology for preventing birth defects and help cure serve illness among babies. I believe genetic manipulation of human offspring is wrong because it’s unethical and causes social issues.
There has been a multitude of scientific advancements over the past few decades in order to make prenatal testing and selective abortion an option available for those who want it, and many more scientific advancements are still to come in order to create a safer, less harmful procedure for the bearer of the child. Modern science has completed amazing research into prenatal testing and selective abortion that seemed impossible a decade ago. However, the fact still remains that not everybody believes prenatal testing and selective abortion is ethically the right decision to make and that is why it will continue to remain an extremely controversial topic that will be debated about for a long time to come. This controversy will continue to ensue and it will be difficult to come to a complete understanding on this issue, since each person has their own right to what they want to do with their own body, and that is one of the biggest reasons why this controversy is here to
Undeniably, Planet Earth will perceive countless deaths due to starvation, lack of shelter due to the cost of living rising and dehydration due to the pollution caused by multinational corporations. There are already countries that have implemented a plan in order to reduce the rate of growth. For example, China and India are the greatest overpopulated places in the world and they have tried to deal with overpopulation in different ways. China placed a “one- child policy” law for several years in order to control population growth. Anyone who had more than one child was then fined and heavily taxed. If mother’s found out that their child was to be a girl, they would try to abort because men held more value. This method of population control is incredibly controversial because it limits people’s free will over how many children to have. India on the other hand, tried to encourage sterilization in its citizens. But the population did not support this radical method and it failed
Human genetic engineering can provide humanity with the capability to construct “designer babies” as well as cure multiple hereditary diseases. This can be accomplished by changing a human’s genotype to produce a desired phenotype. The outcome could cure both birth defects and hereditary diseases such as cancer and AIDS. Human genetic engineering can also allow mankind to permanently remove a mutated gene through embryo screening, as well as allow parents to choose the desired traits for their children. Negative outcomes of this technology may include the transmission of harmful diseases and the production of genetic mutations.
...leads some economic problems. The population will continue growing and will peak in 2030 and start to decrease in 2050.
Genetically altered babies will have no say in what’s being done to their bodies before birth, and consequently will have to live with whatever happens as a result of genetic tampering. I believe that messing with the genetic code in babies to make them have traits and behaviors the way their parents prefer is morally wrong and that babies genes are made a certain way for a reason. It’ll be as ...