People shop for clothes, furniture, electronics, and more every now and then, but now our technology had advanced to the point where people can shop for the traits of their baby. Gender and phenotypic traits are all up for grabs.
Designer Babies, how?
InVitro Fertilization is the technique that allows an egg to be fertilized in a test tube, outside of the mother’s body. After the egg is removed from the body, the scientist can choose which sperm to fertilize it. Then they screen the embryo for possible genetic diseases. After these two steps, the newly fertilized embryo is implanted back into the mother’s womb. This process is called Pre-implantation genetic Diagnosis (PGD).
Curiosity killed the Embryo
InVitro Fertilization was meant for avoiding diseases and to aid the infertile. Because of the miraculous method, people began to become curious of what else could be done during this process. Actually, one can choose the sperm to fertilize the baby, for the choice of the gender, and the genes. During the second step, which was meant to screen for diseases, scientists are able to screen the other traits as well. Because of this technological outbreak, many healthy and fertile couples are visiting clinics to see if they can choose the gender of their baby. Although gender choice is all the hype now, true designer babies will most definitely come in due time.
The Benefits
The original goal of IVF was to help detect and remove deadly and unwanted diseases and to aid the infertile, which are still the biggest benefits of designer babies. Designer babies can relieve the pain and sadness of parents who lose their children early, due to genetic diseases, and decrease the death rate of children who die near birth. Predetermination of gender is a benefit for some people, especially in China, who are currently under the law of one child per family, unless both parents were only children. Predetermining the gender can decrease the numbers of unwanted children due to their gender. Predetermining the traits is also a benefit, but it is also the topic that made designer babies so debatable.
The Arguments
For people who believe in God, designer babies are like playing with life, which is apparently against the will of God and they are an unnatural occurrence. Only the second point applies to the non-believers. Due to the selection process of embryos, many which are deemed imperfect or unhealthy are discarded, and this is like abortion in the eyes of some people. Also, no matter how good the embryo looks and sounds on screen, it may grow up to be a person whom was not what you intended to be.
Here is a fun little interactive flash where designer babies are explained in a nutshell: http://www.bionetonline.org/english/content/babygame.htm
Resources
http://www.bionetonline.org/english/content/db_cont1.htm
http://www.bionetonline.org/english/content/babygame.htm
http://www.bionetonline.org/english/content/babygame.htm
Image Resources
Comments on other blogs
Heyy Patrick!
ReplyDeleteI like how you supported your ideas and even gave an example of one of the issues that's going on in the world and how it can be conntected to this new technology.
I'm sure that this new technology may be a great way of saving lives and I do agree with you that it is against God's will to 'play with life' and how people should be accepted for who they are.
Great blog!
Hey Patrick!
ReplyDeleteYour post was very easy to follow. I like how you divided it into subsections with subtitles for each one!
You clearly outlined the procedure of ‘designing’ babies as well as the pros and cons of this issue. It is true that choosing the gender of a baby may be beneficial, but I believe that parents should love their child for who they are, no matter if they are male or female, blonde or not...etc.
I agree with what you said about the discarded embryos. To some people’s eyes, it may seem like abortion. Using this method, the ‘unhealthy’ or ‘diseased’ embryo never had the chance to survive or live. What message is that giving to the people who is living with those imperfections right now? Would they think that they shouldn’t have been given the chance to live?
Overall, you’ve given very insightful feedback about this issue.
Hi Patchi
ReplyDeleteI like your blog a lot. It was easy to read yet very informative. I agree how you said designer babies can relieve the pain and sadness of parents who lost their children at an early age. By using this method, parents won’t have to suffer anymore. I know a couple who lost their child at an early age because of a genetic disorder. It’s been years ever since he died but they still feel burdened about giving him that disorder. Hopefully designer babies will be more welcoming in the future so something like this never happens again.
Hey Patback,
ReplyDeleteFirst off let me say that I love the layout of your post, very clean and easy to read. Also liked how you made your opinion very clear at the end.
Under 'the Benefits' you wrote about saving children who may be prone to fatal genetic disease. Of course everybody would agree that this is indeed a benefit. However, would you personally say that predetermining gender is a benefit? You mentioned China's one-child policy, which is what I think about as well. Generally males tend to be more desirable, so many opt to abortion or even discard their female child. So wouldn't choosing the gender support sexist behaviour?
Anyway, I like how you brought in our Catholic aspect into your post. A bunch of us were talking about this in science when Sarah said she'd "consult a priest". Haha. I was unsure whether or not the Catholic church would support or be against genetic modifications; thanks for clearing that up!
Great post, will be looking forward to more of your stuff.
Great article ...Thanks for your great information, the contents are quiet interesting. I will be waiting for your next post.
ReplyDeleteOnly Child Traits