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Pros And Cons Of Designer Babies

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“Humans are on the verge of finally being able to modify their own evolution” (Wadhwa) If you had the opportunity to choose the sex of your own child or what your child will look and be like, would you take it? People will soon have the opportunity to genetically modify their children. They will be able to toy with how their children are destined to be. “According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a designer baby is 'A baby whose genetic makeup has been artificially selected by genetic engineering combined with IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) to ensure the presence or absence of particular genes or characteristics'” (Thadani) Humans should not be able to design their own babies. They should not be able to toy with how their child is destined to …show more content…

The world is already on the verge of accepting this change. In our world today, many people already try to change who they are physically through cosmetic surgery or dieting. “A recent survey found that about 10 percent of a group who went for genetic counseling in New York City expressed interest in screening for tall stature and that some 13 percent said they would be willing to test for superior intelligence”( “The Need to Regulate 'Designer Babies'” ). All of society wants to look a certain way, they want to act a certain way, and they want to live a certain prestigious way. The people participating this survey are following the standards set for society. Being genetically modified will be another addition to those standards. The thought of having a child following those standards would be so popular. If everybody has a tall structure and was intelligent, diversity in society would decline. “The use (and abuse) of advanced fertility technology that evokes fears of Gattaca…[and] the Nazis' quest for a blonde, blue-eyed race of Aryans continues apace”("The Need to Regulate 'Designer Babies'"). In these dystopian societies, diversity if frowned upon. The Nazi’s leader, Adolf Hitler, already attempted to eliminate genetic diversity in our world which caused global calamity. We cannot let our generation make the same type of

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(Hayes 500). As humans we can look at our past and even present and realize that genetic modification would only amplify global tensions and disputes. It wouldn’t be long until a nation’s leader begins to strive for the next “Aryan”

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Thomas Jefferson once said, "Determine never to be idle... It is wonderful how much may be done if we were always doing". I believe that Thomas Jefferson was right to say that we accomplish more if we are always doing something because, a body in motion stays in motion and, people who mope around never get anything done. My first reason is that a body in motion stays in motion and a body at rest stays at rest. If people keep moving they wont even notice that the job is getting done as fast as it is until the job is done.

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Genetically modified embryos, test tube babies, and designer babies may seem like far out ideas that are just written about in dystopian novels such as Brave New World. Aldous Huxley’s novel describes a society where all the babies are created and born in bottles. The babies’ genes are manipulated to make smart, good looking alphas all the way down to impaired, identical epsilons. That society believes that having these social distinctions is necessary for their civilization to be in harmony and not collapse. American society today may not be too far from these “radical” ideas.

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The scientific term “designer baby” refers to a baby whose genetic makeup has been artificially selected by genetic engineering combined with in-vitro fertilization or IVF to ensure the presence or the absence of particular genes or characteristics. Doctors and scientist work together to conduct these procedures, and work to advance the technology and options for choosing an unborn child’s traits. Some even refer to “designer babies” as “test tube babies.” The reasoning behind these given names is because before the child is even born, the genes and DNA can be altered in a lab in a petri dish. When families choose IVF for “designer babies,” the doctors use biotechnology to choose what type of baby the family wants.

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If designer babies were to be used as a form of care in medicine, these actions would be considered morally wrong due to the pain and suffering caused to these babies. Additional harming contributors to these designer babies would be the health care providers involved, including physicians who are required to follow the Hippocratic Oath. The Hippocratic Oath states that physicians shall use treatment to help the sick according to their ability and judgment, but certainly not with a view to injury or misconduct. Furthermore, according to the deontology theory, when it comes to determining the correct demeanor to be obeyed, a physician shall operate out of duty and obligation rather than concentrating on the effects of his or her actions (Pozgar, 2016). In other words, the number of lives that could be saved by the expense of exploiting designer babies is irrelevant, and what really matters is the initial action

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Yet, they overlook the fact that society has different tastes in specific traits, looks, and personality. The community will still have a blend of people with different skin tones, hair color, personality, and interests; all up to the choice of the parents. That is the beauty behind the madness; parents having the choice of the genetics of their child, leading to a more intelligent, healthier, and superior

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Soon, other diseases will show up, “in preventing one genetic disease, you are likely to cause another genetic disease”(Source A). When the designer babies have kids, the gene’s that have been edited in their body will not be passed down to future generations. There are just so many risks to take when designing a

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A discussion that many people of today’s world commonly has is if we should be able to design our children. This meaning that with technology, we would be able to pick and choose what characteristics we would want our children to have such as eye color, hair color, and gender. This technology would have a chance of eliminating diseases and birth defects but it can not be guaranteed that it will always work. I feel as though designer babies are not only unethical, but can cause a gap in society. One could argue against my opinion that designer babies are not okay, and you can easily take into consideration why.

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If the biotech for designer babies was widely used, the world would be a better place full of smart and good-looking people. On the other hand, one wrong decision can

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So, the genetic diversity or the variety of different genotypes will be severely reduced in modified communities. Also, the ability to survive directly depends on genetic diversity because populations without it will not be able to meet the demands of the environment (Wolfe, Christian). A disease that could be survived by a population with the normal human genetic diversity, would wipe out the modified community without the genetic diversity. Changing the genotype of just one can affect the whole diversity of humans and with the many processes, including sterilization and genetic screening, changing the genotype of one comes with ease. The ease of changing one leaves humans at a point where the achieved diversity can be easily destroyed, further placing them at risk through the threat of disease (Wolfe, Christian).

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In many countries, it is illegal to create a designer baby, but in the United States, there is no law against it (Knoepfler, The Ethical Dilemma of Designer Babies, TedTalk). In his TedTalk, “The Ethical Dilemma of Designer Babies,” stem cell and genetics researcher, Paul Knoepfler, states the long-term risks of designer babies, describing it as “a kinder, gentler, positive eugenics.” He also touches on government involvement in this researcher; “I also think it 's not that unlikely that governments might start taking an interest in genetic modification. So for example our imagined GM Jenna child who is healthier, if there 's a generation that looks like they have lower healthcare costs, it 's possible that governments may start trying to compel their citizens to go the GM route.” I agree with many points Knoepfler makes in his TedTalk.

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Though eugenics may begin with good intentions, through events such as The Holocaust, one can see how quickly the good intentions can be twisted and turned into something vile and inhumane. It really boils down to the fact that yes, the human race is imperfect. But in that imperfection beauty is found in the diversity as well as progress. If humans were all perfect specimens, there would be no reason to dream or hope for a better tomorrow. The dreamers are the ones who advance society and always have been.

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This procedure’s purpose is to switch out genes for more preferred ones, especially to improve the health of the child. Genetic engineering could permit selection of desired physical and pleasurable traits for non-medical reasons, which has created concern in some people. The process of switching out the genes of a fetus to install genes that are more preferred has brought up debate about whether or not parents should be able to alter their babies genes to make them more appealing to the parents interests. There are many different ways of looking at this procedure and in contrast to other scientific procedures it can be for greater good or for unnecessary enhancement that could potentially create problems in society. Designer babies aren’t morally correct or incorrect, but are in between depending on what it is being used for.

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Have you ever wondered what Genetic Engineering for a designer baby is? Well there are so many things to know about it. First of all, you need to know what traits any parent is allowed to choose for their baby. You can choose the gender, appearance such as (hair color, eye color,etc.) also Intelligence, disease, and personality.

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1057 Words | 5 Pages

Considering the great amount of money that is poured into education, you would think that we are producing geniuses by the freight-car load, however assessment geared toward measuring academic intelligence seems to suggest otherwise. First of all, the method used for measuring, standardized testing, can be greatly flawed just from the virtue that it’s a test. Tests are often described as tedious and nerve-wracking. Anxiety levels are higher than normal, and performance levels can be significantly suppressed. Many times we’ve heard people say that they choke or freeze up in test-taking situations.

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