Designer Babies on human

General Topic: Designer Babies

More Specific Topic: Designer Babies on human

Specific Research Question: How does Designer Babies work?

a.       In brief describe about Designer Babies

•     Designer Babies is a baby whose genetic makeup has been selected in order to eradicate a particular defect, or to ensure that a particular gene is present.

•     It is an advanced reproductive technology that allows parents and doctors to screen embryos for genetic disorders and select healthy embryos.

b.      What are some benefits of Designer Babies?

•         Designer babies may also be created to help another in need. Parents may have a child suffering from a disease and in need of an organ or blood transplant. Imagine you have a child suffering from Leukemia, a cancer of the blood/bone marrow. He needs a bone marrow donation, or he will die young. You and your husband/wife are not matches for his bone marrow. You are, however, able to have another child. Through designer babies, they could create a perfect match for your child's blood, bone marrow, or other organ.

c.       Future improvements that can be done to make Designer babies perfect; limitations.

•    If the process is not done carefully, the embryo could be accidentally terminated.

•    The technology used is not 100% safe yet. It is only in the experimental stages at this point.

•    Because the technology is so new, it is unknown whether genetically modifying the babies will effect the gene pool. This could cause difficulties later on throughout the baby’s family tree.

•    A baby cannot consent to having it’s body altered; therefore some do not believe it’s right as parents do not “own” their children.

•    Genes often have more than one use. For example, a gene that controls intelligence could also control anger management. You could end up with a genius, but very angry, child.

•    Geneticists are not perfect people and cannot 100% properly evaluate every gene. It is more than likely mistakes will be made.

•    Individuality will be slighted. Because most people will seek out good-looking, intelligent babies with other optimum characteristics, everyone will be relatively similar.

•    The procedure is not cheap, and not everyone would be able to afford it. Could create prejudice between “Designer” and “non designer” children. Could cause the “non-designer” children to miss opportunities because jobs among other things are more likely to take the “optimum” candidate for something.

d.      What issues (social, economic, ethical, political or cultural) are currently related to the use of Designer Babies worldwide? 

·      The issues related to the use of Designer Babies are ethical issues, it is illegal in religious aspects, as although one human life might be created through IVF, a lot of unborn babies are wasted and discarded. Despite their unused fetus can be frozen for laboratory purposes, was not created through love marriage as God intends it to be.