Children Altered By Science Essay

Imagine a world where having a baby was like looking through a menu at some fancy restaurant. Imagine being able to choose how a baby will look and act. As mind-boggling as it sounds, scientists and researchers came across an unbelievable discovery: it is possible to design and edit a baby however a person may like. Hanson asserts that personality, gender, appearance, intelligence, hair color, and height can be changed using technology that was originally used for animals (Hanson). These babies are called designer babies. Phillip Ball, a science writer, claims that it is possible to change the genetic makeup of an unborn baby using bio-technology. However, these changes can have more negative effects than positive. Although most countries have not legislated the use of genetic modification, studies have been done on human embryos in China (Ball).

Embryonic tissue that was removed is first tested for genetic abnormalities. This is done so that the healthiest embryos are frozen and implanted. Dr. Timothy Yeko, a medical director of the assisted reproductive technology program at the Reproductive Medicine Group in Tampa, talked about the genetic testing, “ Most of our patients now choose to have this genetic testing, which has come into widespread use in the past year or so. By doing this , the miscarriage rate has dropped by 50 percent because the genetically abnormal embryos are the ones that end in miscarriage.”

Technology is developing every day. The automobile was revolutionary, and then they introduced the plane. Cell phones can connect us with people around the world. Self-driving cars are in development today! Revolutionary inventions are the expectation nowadays, but a new discovery is sparking controversial questions in the science world. Is it acceptable to alter a baby’s genes to make it a better human? Genes are the instruction book of the body, and they determine everyone’s attributes and how people act in their environment (Medical News Today). Some people say that everyone is different for a reason, and others think customizing the genes of children was meant to happen. Altering an infant’s genes is acceptable to prevent hereditary diseases, but the line should be drawn at making an artificially smarter, stronger, or prettier human.

What if there was a future where having a child was as simple as selecting desirable genes out of a catalogue? A future where technology granted parents the ability to design and perfect their children. The notion of “Designer Babies” seems absurd; however the rapid development of technology and the potential of gene manipulation could make this a startling reality.

You may have not thought about issues that come along with genetics and the genetic makeup of a human being. This includes but not limited to how your child will look, will the offspring have your features, the fathers features, or even one of the grandparents' features. This has caused many stakeholders to debate on whether genetic engineering should be allowed and to what extent. Meaning, should we be able to design our children based on how we want them to look or to prevent them from obtaining some detrimental conditions? Most would base their opinions on the “fun” part of designing your baby and how cool that may seem. In a study by Salah, Yaz, a publisher for Emaze

The contemplation of designing your very own baby by picking and choosing specific traits may seem very intriguing, and most beneficial or exciting as a parent. Although as a repercussion of it can cause harm towards the parents themselves and the child. However, genetically modifying babies can result in benefits if used properly, but negative effects come along with the process of it all that can result from it. Genetically

Therapeutic genetic manipulation is preformed by doctors to prevent diseases that the baby is carrying. The baby is tested by screening the embryo for any possible unknown diseases. Sometimes the PGD or preimplantation genetic diagnosis technique is used for this ("Biotechnology special focus"). The main diseases PGD is used to test for in babies are Hunntington's disease, Tay-sacks, Alzheimers, Familia cancers, Sickle Cell disease, Hemophilia, Neurofibromatosis, Fanconi's Anemia, Cystic fibrosis and most recently, Down's Syndrome ("Hooray for designer babies", 2002). This technique involves removing the unfertilized egg from the female, mating it with a sperm and then testing it for diseases. If all the diseases are absent, the fertilized egg is planted into the mother's uterus to develop into a baby. Some other unpredictable diseases may also be carried in the baby's chromosomes. Chromosome carrying diseases and disorders include: miscarriage of the baby, physical birth defects or down syndrome (Biotechnology special focus").

Human progression is a key motive in the field of science and technology. New techniques and designs are made to improve the general welfare and life span of human beings. However, development requires risks and those risks may have deadly effects on future generations. One such debate is over genetic engineering and creating “Designer Babies”. The ability to alter any trait an offspring may possess.

Three-parent in vitro fertilization known as three-parent IVF has caused a huge controversial debate in today society. Doctors want to be able to help prevent an inheritable disease, which is caused by defective mitochondrial DNA that is serious and life-threatening. Women are in need of the three-parent IVF procedure so their child can come out healthy. United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation in Pittsburgh, “[explain] that between 1,000 and 4,000 children are born with mitochondrial disorders in the US each year” (Brittany Shoot). Three-parent IVF procedure should be approved for use in the United States, meaning doctors who are participating in this procedure would be able to help mothers who have genetic disorder to have children.

As the years have progressed, scientific research has begun to grow exponentially. Every day something new is discovered and has been incorporated into everyday life. One recent discovery is the ability to screen eggs from the mother for certain genetic diseases, preimplantation genetic diagnosis, and implant them; ultimately picking and implanting an egg that will produce a normal, healthy child or otherwise known as a designer baby(Ly). Another aspect of a designer baby, is the ability that allows the parents to pick the gender or certain traits they want their child to have(Ly). This means that if the parents want their child to have a very high IQ, be a girl, and be beautiful; then it will have all of those traits. If the parents want their child to play basketball and eventually go pro; then it will have the ability

If such a procedure required an invasive process that would harm the new child, what do you believe the right thing to

While reading through articles on the internet and watching videos on the three-parent technique I believe that this type of technique is ethical, most of, many of moms in today’s society can’t have healthy baby’s due to inheritable mitochondrial that’s why they are doing the three-parent technique to create a healthy child, the good thing about this procedure is that 99% of DNA comes from the parent’s genes and only about 0.1% from the third donor and also IVF technique using mitochondrial replacement therapy has been revealed, giving hope to families with inheritable mitochondrial disorders that they may be able to have healthy children in the future. On an article, I read that to create a healthy birth was to move the DNA from an egg of

How does it sound to walk into the doctor’s office, choose what attributes you want your baby to have, and then having that exact baby 9 months later? Although this may seem quite harmless to most, the negative effects of designer babies are tremendous: the lack of diversity in our population, violation of a specific set of laws designed to protect humans, going against Christian views, and even destroying the roots of human nature. With genetic engineering biotechnology, such as Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (or CRISPR), new and unique altercations are being done to revolutionize many aspects of our lives. Along with astounding benefits that can come from these biotechnologies, many people have come up with crazy ideas, such as these designer baby ideas, that could be potentially harmful to our society.

However, researchers generally agree that germ-line engineering will be possible within the next twenty years (Rabino 153). When the technology does develop, the procedure for germ-line engineering will be similar to that of in vitro fertilization. For example, a couple wishes to have a child, but they have reservations about naturally conceiving because both of their families have a history of cystic fibrosis. They decide that the use of germ-line engineering would be the best way for them to ensure they produce a healthy child. First, the couple will go to a clinic and some of the man’s sperm and some of the woman’s eggs will be harvested. These sex cells will then be taken to a laboratory and in a Petri dish the man’s sperm will be induced to fertilize the woman’s eggs. These fertilized eggs will then be allowed to develop up to the eight-cell embryonic stage. At this point one cell from each eight-cell embryo will be removed for genetic testing (this does not cause significant harm to the embryo’s development because the cells are not yet differentiated into the different types of tissue). If the genetic tests come out positive for the defective gene that causes cystic fibrosis, the diseased embryos will undergo genetic surgery. In genetic surgery, through various intricate methods, the defective gene is basically spliced out of the

The next technique routinely performed for prenatal diagnosis is amniocentesis. A long needle is inserted into the mother’s uterus to withdraw a sample of amniotic fluid containing cells shed by the fetus. The cells are cultured and analyzed for chromosome abnormalities. Despite the lengthy time in obtaining results because the cells need to be cultured, this method has become widely accepted as a safe and accurate way to determine genetic disorders.