What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of "Designer Babies"? Is it new born babies put in designer clothing. Well that's not quite it, the term is used to describe babies that have been genetically engineered. Regular procreation happens when male and female gametes combine and the different traits and chromosomes from both parents are shared in the child. But a "Designer Baby" refers to a baby whose genetic makeup has been artificially selected by genetic engineering combined with in vitro fertilization. In Vitro Fertilization is when a females egg cells are fertilized by a males sperm cell outside the females body. This method helps reduce the risk of having a child with a genetic disorder. Presently
it is only legal to carry out two types of advanced reproductive technologies on humans. One is to choose the sperm used to fertilize the egg, which determines the type of genes and sex the baby will be. Two is the technique of screening the embryo for any disease, the selected embryos will then be implanted back into the mother. This is called Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis. Scientists have made rapid advances in human genome and in our ability to modify and change genes.
In this picture a biopsy pipette (right) is extracting an
embryo (middle) and is held in place
by a blunt pipette (left).
In the future this could potentially lead to the cure of genetic diseases in embryos by replacing corrupted sections of DNA with properly functioning healthy DNA. This is called germline therapy and is done on an egg, sperm, or a tiny fertilized embryo. Germline therapy has been proven to work successfully on animals but is currently illegal to be done on humans.
Above is an animated picture of DNA, like the one used in
germline therapy.
Many people believe that further research into germline therapy and "Designer Babies" is
unethical and an act against God. Personally I wouldn't have a designer baby but i wouldn't mind
trying germline therapy if I needed it. It is illegal for the sole fact that scientists are not sure whether
or not this technology of genetic modification is safe to be used on humans, and can they be morally
defended. I think that if this technology is safe, it should be legalized, to an extent. Yes, there are great
things that could come from genetically modified children, but people can get carried away, and some
greedy people out there instead of setting limits they will keep researching into genetic modification
to meet the demand of the consumer. Which is why I say it should be legalized to an extent, but I
believe in the future the advances in this technology will cure embryo disease and corrupted DNA in humans.
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Comments
Hey Chris! I like the fact that you explained both sides of the story, the negatives and the positives of genetic engineering in children. It was a very informative blog. Of course to a certain extent this genetic engineering should be allowed (i.e. to save a life), but other than that I think that it should be left to be done the way it's been done since the dawn of time.
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