The Human Genome Project, which began in 1990, has given scientists an abundance of information on the genes of the human genome and a completed gene map. This information about or DNA allows us to predict and genetically modify our children’s features.
Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is the first step towards designer babies. PGD determines which embryos carry defects and gene mutations, such as cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and Huntington's chorea. These tests are offered at fertility clinics all over Canada and are the first step in creating designer babies. This first step is, in my opinion, purely ethical because the parents are only doing what is best for the child by making sure that their baby will be healthy. If the embryos are found to have defects then gene therapy comes into play. Using gene therapy, the defective genes can be replaced by normal genes to cure a genetic disorder; of which there are currently over 3500. Once you get these first two steps down, taking a PGD test and going through gene therapy to cure genetic disorders, you are still acting in your child’s best interests and only thinking of their safety and health.
This is the part where it gets tricky. While you’re already altering your child’s genes, you might as well alter their appearance too, right? Boy or girl? Tall or short? Brown haired or blonde?
Wrong.
This is when parents take genetic modification a step too far. The purpose of procreation is to create a child that is uniquely yours, with bits of you and your partner in it. As soon as PGD is used for non-therapeutic use it purely for the parents, not the child. Sure, some people will argue that the parents still only have the child’s best interests in mind because they just want their child to be attractive and have a better life. Well, looks won’t get you a better life, but the way your parents raise you will. Parents that do “design” their babies and under the illusion that being pretty will help their baby, but really “ugly” babies and people do fine in life as well. I mean look at Taylor Lautner, his face isn’t the prettiest but he sure is doing well in life so far. But seriously, the way your baby looks will only take them so far, if the parents really care about their baby then they won’t care what they look like and will raise them to be successful in life.
We were all made the way we are for a reason; whether you believe that God is the reason behind that or not.
The executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society, Richard Hayes, stated, “We support the use of that [embryo screening] to allow couples at risk to have healthy children. But for non-medical, cosmetic purposes, we believe this would undermine humanity and create a techno-eugenic rat race.”
Eugenics - the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics.
In many countries, particularly China, the gene altering technology is used to avoid the birth of female children. Also, if the technology continues and the designing aspect develops, babies will be objectified as commodities.
The idea of babies as commodities will only happen if we accept the idea of ‘designer babies’ into our society and allow it to be seen as ‘normal’ and acceptable. Once society accepts this then babies won’t be treated as special when you can just go to the clinic and ‘order’ the one you want.
Parents need to get over their ‘I just want what’s best for my child’ attitude, because usually they don’t actually see what is best for them, they just think they do. How many times has your parent tried that on you? The line, “We just want what is best for you” is commonly used by your parents when they force you into doing something you don’t want to do, such as going to a certain university, or just taking piano lessons.
After the safety of the child is certain then we must leave gene therapy at that, and not go any further to alter them in other ways. In a way, humans are all about control. We love the feeling of being in control and feel that we have to control everything around us. Even the birth of our babies.
Humans need to relinquish control and let nature take its course.
National Post. “Will screening for birth defects lead to ‘designer babies’?” Canada.com. October 5, 2005. http://www.canada.com/topics/lifestyle/parenting/story.html?id=af85fffa-81df-4c47- b389-d7eefc2faccf&k=7781
Steere, Mike. “Designer babies: Creating the perfect child” Center for Genetics and Society. October 30, 2008. http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=4349
2 comments:
Hey Laura!
That's a very interesting bioblog on designer babies. I agree with you on the fact that parents would probably not be able to control themselves from altering their child's cosmetic genes while already modifying their health genes. It is very true that how far a person goes in life has very less to do with how they look (unless they're a model). I need to disagree with you on one point though, because many of the times when parents say that they want the best for their child, they actually mean it. Even though their suggestions may not be what the child wants, they're only trying to help and they probably have had experiences in the field, so they do not want their child making the same mistakes or miss a good opportunity. However, for parents to mess around with their child's DNA before they're even born is just taking it too far. I definitely agree that humans have become control-freaks and we should really learn to let things take their own course.
Great bioblog overall!
Hilo Laura! :]
Very poignant blog! I agree with a lot of what you've said, except that the technology hasn't gotten so far as to be able to reconstruct how a baby would look like so they would still most likely look like their parents, except that they would have different coloured eyes or hair or whatever. And parents really do have the best for us in mind because of their personal experience, like Ellier said. But yes, humans have become extremely controlling and should learn to let nature takes its course. But we are human beings of course and no matter how much we may say that humanity should change its mindset, it would be really hard for it to actually do so. Anyway, that was off-topic-ish.
Great job on the blog!
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