Imagine yourself going to your doctor’s office to get checked up; she hands you a papers and you start checking off what you want green eyes, blond hair, artistic, female and so on. Just like getting to build your own Barbie doll. Congratulations, you’ve designed your image of a perfect child. Parents have the tendency to want what is best for their children. They want them to be in a perfect condition. Designer babies have become a solution, to create something perfect. Even though designer babies can be used to create a parent’s perfect child, many still have concerns. Designer babies can either be helpful or harmful; however, research has only shown designer babies having negative effects on our society and major risk factors on a child
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However, In the process of creating a designer baby unwanted embryos are destroyed and the technology used is not risk free. "One way to make a designer baby begins with an embryo created by in vitro fertilization (IVF). Genetic engineers modify the embryo’s DNA and then introduce it into a womb (Agar 1)." Agar states that just the IVF cost at least $2500. This process was originally used for a couple that could not have a child on their own. Now this process is used to create a couples perfect child, also known as a designer baby. In order to create a designer baby, a couple must go through the process on in vitro fertilization to create twelve embryos that will be tested. The unethical part of this process is the death or destruction of the unwanted eleven embryos. It is immoral to destroy eleven potential babies. However one may choice to continue the process thinking that there are no risks. Some may argue that the technology and methods have been already tested on mice proving that process is successful. A study on mice was done showing that by adding an additional copy of the gene the mouse, Doggie, was able to learn faster and retain more information for a longer period of time. Even thought the technique worked on the mice it was never tested on humans. A safety concern is that one gene has more than one effect. “There is evidence for such effects on Doogie mice, which seem not only to have improved powers of learning and memory, but also to have a greater sensitivity to pain, an enhancement of more dubious desirability (2)." This causes some uncertainty because by effecting one gene for the better the same gene can cause pain or unwanted traits. This makes the technology is not advance enough to be used on humans. Due to these uncontrollable factors that can be caused from the gene manipulation and altering the traits to make a perfect child it is immoral to
However, In the process of creating a designer baby unwanted embryos are destroyed and the technology used is not risk free. "One way to make a designer baby begins with an embryo created by in vitro fertilization (IVF). Genetic engineers modify the embryo’s DNA and then introduce it into a womb (Agar 1)." Agar states that just the IVF cost at least $2500. This process was originally used for a couple that could not have a child on their own. Now this process is used to create a couples perfect child, also known as a designer baby. In order to create a designer baby, a couple must go through the process on in vitro fertilization to create twelve embryos that will be tested. The unethical part of this process is the death or destruction of the unwanted eleven embryos. It is immoral to destroy eleven potential babies. However one may choice to continue the process thinking that there are no risks. Some may argue that the technology and methods have been already tested on mice proving that process is successful. A study on mice was done showing that by adding an additional copy of the gene the mouse, Doggie, was able to learn faster and retain more information for a longer period of time. Even thought the technique worked on the mice it was never tested on humans. A safety concern is that one gene has more than one effect. “There is evidence for such effects on Doogie mice, which seem not only to have improved powers of learning and memory, but also to have a greater sensitivity to pain, an enhancement of more dubious desirability (2)." This causes some uncertainty because by effecting one gene for the better the same gene can cause pain or unwanted traits. This makes the technology is not advance enough to be used on humans. Due to these uncontrollable factors that can be caused from the gene manipulation and altering the traits to make a perfect child it is immoral to