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Genetic Enhancement In Steven Pinker's The Designer Baby Myth

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Humanity has been presented with innumerable ethical dilemmas since the beginning of our existence but one that stands out in our modern day is the subject of genetic enhancement. With the rise of genetic technology and widespread use of tampering with embryos genetic enhancement at this point seems like it is going to happen. But using genetics to alter the human condition is something that is widely debated across the globe and people fervently support both sides of the argument; should we use our knowledge of genetics to enhance humans? There seems to be a line drawn where on one side, enhancement is being used to prevent children from having diseases and on the other side, enhancement being used to enhance the rest of human capabilities. …show more content…

One article that explores just how far off genetic enhancement is from actually happening is Steven Pinker’s “The Designer Baby Myth” (2003). Within his writing, Pinker goes into how many people envision genetic enhancement to be aligned with the ‘designer baby myth’ where we will be able to pick and choose genes at will to mold and shape a child. Pinker believes that this couldn’t be further from our science of today and that this idea is anything but inevitable (p. 816). Pinker continues with points like “how can scientists try out different genes to enhance the minds of babies given that many of them could have terrible side effects?” (p. 817) This is a very serious issue that is present with current genetic enhancement research that is taking place because we do not have the knowledge regarding what each gene is really doing for us since the amount of genes and the number of interactions with each other is an extremely daunting …show more content…

Philosophy has been at the forefront of this conversation since the ancient Greeks, and well-being is something that Aristotle referred to back in his day as eudaimonia, a subject that he covers at length in his Nicomachean Ethics. When we look at the broadness of how different people see their well-being, it becomes quickly apparent that we for the most-part do not all come to a consensus when discussing what makes each one of us happy and content. One thing that most would agree on is that almost every person would qualify illness as being detrimental to one’s well-being. But can the same be said of

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Genetically Modified Humans, the New GMOs? Given the opportunity, would you pick and choose the traits you would like in your baby? Well, according to Ronald M. Green’s article, “Building Baby from the Genes Up,” this type of genetic modification will be an inevitable norm in the near future. In his article, Green argues that by pinpointing and tweaking the genetic culprits in the human genome we could help prevent and possibly eliminate genetic disorders. Although he acknowledges that there are risks involved; Green does not suggest any limitations for such tinkering, he even goes so far as to mention the possibility of cosmetic enhancements.

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Ignoring the development of genetic modification can cause a total chaos when so many good things can come from this process. Cloning and genetic enhancing research needs to be further expanded and brought to the

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In "Building Baby from the Genes Up" by Ronald M. Green, Green expresses his view that genetically modifying humans is not necessarily a good thing for human, but that it’s not such a bad thing or inevitable. Green claims that genetic modification is beneficial to society and would help improve living. Green exclaims that genetic modification is an inevitable future and that the quality of the human population will improve. Green proposes the idea that genetic modification will improve the quality of the human population by using it with health related issues such as obesity and dyslexia and that no children will have to suffer anymore because of those problems. Knowing about our gene will give us more freedom according to Green.

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