Arguments For And Against Designer Babies

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

Though it is evident that the concept of “Designer Babies” would prove unpopular amongst the majority of society, there still remains to be advocates for a future compromising of GM children. It is argued that gene technology will bring about a new age of human beings who are happier, smarter and healthier. Supporters look forward to a future when parents could quite literally assemble their children from genes listed in a catalogue. A future in which the health, appearance, personality and life span of our children become mere artefacts of genetic modification.

A designer baby is a genetically engineered child using InVitro fertilization for specially selected traits, which can vary from lower risk diseases to gender selection (The Embryo Project). The idea of designer babies was first established in the mid-1990s by an embryologist named Jacques Cohen. His technique for helping infertile women was intended to “rescue” the eggs of women

The term designer children is unnerving at first to many. The idea of parents designing the genetic makeup of their offspring makes children seem like a commodity in a genetic free market. Thoughts of a dystopian society like the one in the film “Gattaca” come to mind. However, taking an immediate repugnant stand against genetic enhancement is not well-founded. A more open-minded inspection of the issue reveals that the idea of parents improving their children’s life prospects through genetic engineering (provided it is safe) is, at its core, not unethical. In fact, some genetic enhancement in addition to correcting deleterious genes to prevent disease is a moral obligation. It is moral to make rational decisions using the science and

An article called “In Praise of Designer Babies” ( October 10, 2013) was constructed by Paul Waldman, a columnist and senior writer for the magazine “The American Prospect” for which this article was published in. This magazine covers various topics from a liberal and progressive perspective. Within this source, Waldman claims that the future of Designer Babies may not be as unethical as some people make it out to be, and that society may truly want the potential of genetically modifying their kids more than they think. To fully support his argument, Waldman refutes some of the most prominent ethical arguments with his own thinking about genetically modified embryos as well as what he believes society’s true opinion about designer babies are.

The scientists that are starting to create these designer babies are using special ways to do so. They use in vitro fertilization, or IVF, to invent these designer children. During the process of producing the babies, the eggs are fertilized by sperm in a petri dish, which are then transferred into the woman’s uterus. The scientists finally look at multiple embryos to see which one has that “designer” characteristic. If the embryo meets the qualifications it is kept, if it doesn’t it is thrown out. This means that the flawed embryos, who would’ve had long-fulfilled lives, are killed and don’t have a chance.

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

The birth of a child is supposed to be a time of joy, the uncertainty of life leads to this one point in time. Will she or he be the next president, a star athlete, a genius or just fall into the crowd as another citizen. With recent advancements in science, this uncertainty has become a thing of the past. The human being is now seen as a commodity and no more is valued in the uncertainty of individuality. The parent can now choose how they want their child to come out or develop into. Sandel’s book The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Case of Modern Eugenics is a well researched look into examples of modern eugenics and the problems that arise from it. These topics range from the ethics of cloning, athletes using performance enhancing drugs, and other practical uses in everyday life. Sandel’s argument is that there is value in human nature (even with all its flaws), and genetic engineering will forever change human nature. Destroying the very essence of what it is to be human and scarring humanity. The main features of human nature that will be altered: are responsibility, humility and solidarity.

In the past, eugenics was a popular science used to improve the human population by selecting desirable traits and characteristics. Eugenics aims to improve human genetic traits by advocating sexual reproduction for people who have desirable traits. Current technology and advancement has made eugenics more popular today than it ever has been in the past. Furthermore, individuals can personally customize their child’s genetic makeup by either eliminating a particular defect or to ensure that a certain trait is present. This practice, known as designing babies, is a form of eugenics that is currently happening regularly and many question whether it is either ethical or unethical. Although there are many positives and negatives to designing babies, many fear that the process will eventually be abused. Eugenics is an interesting and diverse topic to analyze and discuss, and by immersing oneself into such a topic, society can understand how to eliminate undesirable traits and deformities by using eugenics as well as moral objections and concerns.

Progress in biotechnology is making the concept of "designer babies" more likely and according to leading scientists in the field, society should “be prepared”. A “designer baby’s” genetics have been selected and modified, deriving from its naturally inherited ones in order to eliminate a defect in particular, or to simply ensure a particular gene is present in their genetic makeup. The idea of designing your own baby is a controversial one, but arguments against it are astoundingly higher when parents are given the availability to pick and choose physical traits not affecting the child’s health.

The “designer baby” concept is controversial because of the moral platform the term falls on and the ethical dilemmas it brings. There are many debates surrounding the advantages and the disadvantages for the creation of ‘designer babies’. One of the main benefits is the possibility of lowering the risk of certain inherited medical conditions and genetic diseases being passed on. These include Down Syndrome, Alzheimer’s, obesity, cancer, anemia and many others. On the contrary, it highlights challenges and issues with the child’s identity, and the societal divide and impact on civilization.

With the option of designing your own child, most parents will ultimately decide they want their child to be good-looking and intelligent. Who wouldn’t want that for their children? However, this blindly makes the next generation of children genetically similar to a fault. As the generations of offspring continue to be conceived, more and more offspring will continue to become more and more similar which will decline the diversity of the population. Without diversity, humans become at extreme risk to harmful diseases that can lead to huge problems, possibly even race-ending problems as well. Diversity is an immense part of who humans are on this

With new technologies available everyday, it seems almost as if we can customize our children. Reproduction is no longer an outcome of random and inherited genes, but now it’s a process of creating the child that we want to have. Fertility clinics are in debate as to whether or not it is ethical to be able to determine the sex of our children. Some view this as a valid option, while others see it as another step down the road to designer babies. But how far is too far? That is a question that we can only answer for ourselves. While this article remains unbiased, we are able to form our own opinion after seeing the pros and cons of both sides.

The driving force behind all innovations is human improvement. This concept is best displayed in designer babies, the plan to modify the genetic makeup of an individual to reduce the risk of genetic diseases, change physical characteristics, and even possibly enhance IQ. Although this medical procedure is in its infancy, there’s no doubt that it will be possible in a few short years. With it comes lots of implications and concerns, all of which should be considered when dealing with regulations and legal matters. In order to consider these various concerns, the government should impose strict but fair regulations on the physical procedure and result of creating a designer baby, but should not infringe on the public’s freedom of choice to modify their baby.

The theory that a designer baby is even possible is because of Henrietta Lacks and her immortal cells. Her cells were essential in the research and experiments that created Dolly the sheep who was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell. Due to the fact that a sheep was successfully cloned, people gained the idea that humans could be cloned. This theory is known as designer babies. In an article, Sarah Ly states that a designer baby is, “a baby genetically engineered in vitro for specially selected traits” (Ly 1). This development suggests that in the future, it may be possible to choose the traits for a baby, such as certain eye