preview

Designer Babies Persuasive Essay

Good Essays

Charles Darwin started it all. His theory of evolution and natural selection in 1859 lead people to question the biological limits of human society (Rose). Then came Hitler’s ideas in the 1930’s. His desire to create a dominant human race sparked the eugenics movement, the idea that the humans could be genetically improved by selective breeding (Rose). Even if this can be done, is it right to genetically modify fetuses? Furthermore, is there a line between changing a baby's genome in order to avoid disease and designing a baby with desirable traits?
It is highly likely designer babies will be first made by the gene editing tool “CRISPR-Cas9”. PBS claims that “CRISPR-Cas9 is like gene editing with a missile guidance system.” The technique uses …show more content…

CRISPR, gene transfer therapy, genetic testing, and in vitro fertilization have all lead us closer and closer to making “designer babies” possible. But, as a society are we ready to embrace a “designer baby generation”? Furthermore, are we ready to embrace people’s motives for participating in genetic modification? To me this is interesting because people’s motives for designing their baby can’t be judged. One could easily claim that by picking traits on their baby they are only trying to give the child the best life possible. How would one judge if a parent is attempting to normalize disability in their family or only wanting the “perfect child”? Does this give rise to another eugenics movement? And if we are trying to keep up with China- is this wrong? By doing so we would potentially advance society, however, would we advance society too fast? Will we overpopulate the …show more content…

DNA modification could normalize disability in families, but the process is difficult and has many known and unknown consequences. Genetic modification has already proven successful in crops and animals. In humans it would allow DNA to function properly ultimately leading to healthy individuals. But it is possible that genetic modification may not be the answer and that improving the environment of DNA will allow DNA to function properly (Ghose). However, the process is more complicated. Changing one trait doesn’t just depend on the environment, it depends on dozens if not thousands of genes (Parry). Sheldon Krimsky, an expert on the topic says, "Even [for] height, one of the most heritable traits known, scientists have found at least 50 genes that account for only 2 to 3 percent of the variance in the samples," (Parry). If researchers and doctors were able to find a way around this problem, they could allow parents who couldn’t genetically give their child a healthy life the opportunity of developing a baby with disease or other medical conditions (Ghose). Currently there are laws against prenatal genetic modification, protecting people from the unknown consequences. Therefore, when it becomes allowed there will be trial and error runs that may result in unfortunate events. Not only will there will be potential consequences at birth, but there will be consequences further down the road.

Get Access