Royaossadat Aminian
Dr. Bond
PHI 1600
27 April 2017
Genetic Engineering of Babies In the last decade, the speed of science and technology development is increased. New accomplishments give people the possibility of having a better and easier life. But this cause the society to face with new subjects which are not existed before. Nowadays, one of the most controversial subjects in the world is about designer baby. The term designer baby, refers to the babies whose genetic has been artificially selected by genetic engineering. It follows guidelines set by the parent or scientist, to produce desirable traits. This is done using various methods, such as gene therapy or pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, also known as PGD. The prospect of
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Genetic engineering is not something to be played around with. Any mistake in this process can alter the lives of many future generations. When focusing on the ethics behind this treatment, medical professionals and clinical ethicists take many factors into consideration. They look at whether or not the goal and outcome of the treatment are supposed to impact an individual and their family lineage or a group of people. The main ethical issue with pure germline modification is that these types of treatments will produce a change that can be passed down to future generations and therefore any error, known or unknown, will also be passed down and will affect the offspring. New diseases may be introduced accidentally. Furthermore, the genetic engineering itself may not work correctly. The technology used is not 100% safe yet. It is only in the experimental stages at this point. If the process is not done correctly, the embryo could be accidentally terminated. Additionally, Genes often have more than one use. For example, a gene that controls intelligence could also control anger management. You could end up with a genius, but very angry, child. This type of problem may not appear itself until the baby is actually born. “The parents may not get what they expect. For example, they might choose a female embryo with fair skin, dark hair, and a minimal chance of disease, and get a healthy daughter who is fair skinned with dark hair who also has a bad personality” (Designer Babies: The Good and the Bad Web). Because personality genes are difficult to interpret and understand, the personalities of designer babies cannot be chosen for. The parents who wanted the fair and brunette daughter may have accidentally passed up a sweet tempered red haired son. Geneticists are not perfect people and cannot 100% properly evaluate every gene. It is more than likely mistakes will be