“At Build· A·Baby Workshop, our mission is to bring to life your perfect, designer baby. Come and select from our wide variety of hair colours, body structures, and more.”
This may be the cash cow of the future. “Designer Baby” is a term created by the media to describe the future use of genetic technologies to alter embryos and select desirable or cosmetic traits. These techniques require InVitro Fertilization, which is the process of fertilizing egg cells with sperm outside the female’s body.
Advantages of Designer Babies
Some couples can not have children because the children will either die before they are born, or die at an early age. Advancements in genetic technologies allow such couples to expand their families.
Using such genetic techniques, scientists are able to prevent children from having genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis or muscular dystrophy. This allows the children to live a life free of genetic diseases.
Families with children suffering from medical disorders can have a designer baby genetically modified to be a perfect match donor. This way, the designer baby can help keep his or her sibling healthy.
Disadvantages of Designer Babies
Imagine the difficulties of being a designer baby genetically modified to be a perfect-match donor. How does it feel to be an organ vessel for one’s sibling? The purpose of life these kids’ lives depend on someone else. What will happen to them if the sibling dies? Children should not be loved for who they are, not what they can offer.
Geneticists can select the gender among children. This choice promotes sexism in society. In some countries, such as China, parents hope to receive sons instead of daughters. With the practice of selecting gender, there would be a great imbalance among the genders.
Parents may create designer babies to fulfill their fantasies of a perfect child. The adults may have great expectation for their children. This would lead to strains in the relationship between the parents and the child. The child may not want the genetically modified traits he/she are given. The children will become objects of the parents’ whim. Designer babies would fuel perfectionist attitudes of parents towards their children and demote individuality.
Designer babies may be the stepping stone to designing the super human race. Cosmetic surgery allows one to reduce a sever disfigurement due to an accident. Unfortunately, this medical technique is used for other superficial reasons. What is stopping us from abusing genetic engineering to create super humans? Evidence from history indicates that we may cross this path in the future. Egyptian rulers married their siblings in order to keep the blood line “royal”. The ancient warriors, Spartans, used selective breeding to raise the strongest men to fight.
I do not think society is prepared for designer babies. We must deal with situations such as poverty, child labour and war in foreign lands. Designer babies would offer more problems than solutions at the moment. Perhaps society would be prepared for such options in the future.
Word Count: 499
Figures:
Figures:
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| Figure 1: A picture of a baby. Traits such as hair colour and eye colour can be altered using genetic engineering. |
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| Figure 2: Multiple babies. Note that there is a variety of babies. |
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| Figure 3: The InVitro Fertilization where the egg cells are fertilized by sperm outside the womb of the female. |
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| Figure 4: An artistic represenation of how genetically modified babies are created. The process of InVitro Fertilization involves fertilizing the egg cells with sperm outside of the female's body. It is conducted using professional sterile lab equipment. |
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| Figure 5: An artistic representation of the artist's views on Genetic Engineering. She speaks against choosing the baby's anesthetics by modifying the genetics and DNA. |
Works Consulted:
"What Is a Designer Baby?" Bionet - New Discoveries in Life Sciences - Explore the Science and Debate the Issues. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. <http://www.bionetonline.org/english/content/db_cont1.htm>.
Johnson, By Priya. "Pros and Cons of Designer Babies." Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pros-and-cons-of-designer-babies.html>.
My Sister's Keeper. Dir. Nick Cassavetes. Perf. Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin and Alex Baldwin. Curmudgeon Films, 2009. DVD.
New England Consortium of Metabolic Programs. "Words to Know – A POI Glossary « New England Consortium of Metabolic Programs." New England Consortium of Metabolic Programs. 1 June 2010. Web. 25 Nov. 2010. <http://newenglandconsortium.org/for-families/galactosemia/galactosemia-and-primary-ovarian-insufficiency-poi/poi-glossary/>.
Picoult, Jodi. My Sister's Keeper. New York: Washington Square, 2005. Print.
Sihera, Elaine. "Ancient Sparta According to the Greeks." Helium - Where Knowledge Rules. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. <http://www.helium.com/items/994499-ancient-sparta-according-to-the-greeks>.
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